Villains' Game of Thrones
by Emperor K. Rool
Summary: Post SPD. Gasket brings back various villains to form an unstoppable army under his leadership, but can he hold on to power? Hidden family secrets about Divatox, Scorpius, the Demons, and the Machine Empire lead to treachery, battles and romance. Love driven Goldar/Scorpina, Rita/Zedd, and Toxica/Jindrax. Politics driven Trakeena/Olympius and Havoc/Bansheera.
1. Book I: Gasket Chapter 1: Rita and Zedd

I do not, have not, and probably never will own Power Rangers.

_**Machine Imperial Remnant Base, 2026_**

The Troobian Empire had fallen and with it, Gasket's only serious rival to the Grand Monarchy of Evil, Omni, had been destroyed. The Troobian leadership was all locked up at S.P.D. Now was the time for Gasket to put his master plan into action. The doors slid apart and Gasket entered the massive chamber. On one side of a protective glass wall Dr. Narzag, a temporal physicist from Tritor's homeworld of Horath sat at the controls. He rose to his feet when his master entered.

"King Gasket," he bowed. The device has been successfully tested. I have brought back most of the Machine Empire's armies. As per your instructions, I've left your father, mother, brother, Klank, and Orbus in the past."

"Where they will all be turned to dust by the Z-Wave, leaving me the undisputed Machine King!"

"You have legions of Cogs, Quadrafighters, and monsters gathered from throughout history to serve you my king!"

"Excellent!" Gasket said. However he knew that even the entire Machine Empire could not defeat the Power Rangers. He had personally had all his hopes and dreams crushed by the Zeo Rangers and he had followed the news of what had happened to the other villains. Divatox had destroyed the Power Chamber, two megazords and apparently the Turbo Rangers' powers, but other villains had come as close. Astronema briefly controlled the whole universe; Trakeena had destroyed Terra Venture; Bansheera destroyed or seized control of all the Lightspeed megazords and destroyed the Aquabase. Master Org had won when all of the Wildzords returned to unleash their combined power upon him. Gasket knew that to truly rule the universe he would need the full resources of the United Alliance of Evil as well as some new additions.

"Your work for me is just beginning, doctor. I have plans to create an even more massive empire than Dark Specter commanded. The Machine Empire is essential piece of that puzzle, but it is still only one piece nonetheless."

This made Narzag nervous. Gasket had years to brood over his revenge, but that desire to rule the universe was making him aspire to levels of power only Dark Specter could hope to maintain. Did Gasket truly think he could control all the villains? What would become of Horath? Gasket was brutal and oppressive but he was predictable. If he were overthrown, what could they expect from their new overlord?

"How do you mean to control them, majesty?"

Gasket threw back his head and laughed, "By means of this very machine. I can send them back in time to suffer their fates at the hands of the Rangers." Gasket then looked at Narzag in the eyes, "And should you use it on me, the device I implanted in your daughter will self-destruct and kill her!"

Narzag growled. Gasket had out-thought him once again.

"Now we should be about ready to begin. Use this device and the one below it on the next floor to teleport Rita, Zedd, and their army from the Vica Galaxy in 1998."

"But if we bring Rita here before she was purified there will be no Mystic Mother in this timeline and the Master will—

"Still be defeated. I've run the projections based on different variables several times. He always over-absorbs magical energy and explodes from it. Needless to say, that glutton will not be joining my alliance. Now," Gasket pointed forward with his sword, "Energize!"

* * *

The last thing that Goldar remembered was the Z Wave racing toward him and all of Rita and Zedd's army. Now he, his emperor, his empress, Finster, Squatt, Babboo and a platoon of Lord Zedd's putties filled the chamber. Goldar had not really wanted to die, so he supposed he should be thankful to whatever power or powers governed people's destinies.

"I think we're alive!"

"Let me test that idea, monkey boy!" Rita said as she banged Goldar on the head with her wand.

Goldar rubbed his head and grumbled unenthusiastically, "Yeah, we're alive alright."

At that point the glass wall protecting the chamber slid into the floor, and everyone noticed Gasket.

"Welcome to 2026, Rita and Zedd. The rest of your army is in the larger chamber downstairs."

"Gasket!" Zedd raised his staff. "Where is Thrax?"

"Five years ago he left Master Vile to travel back in time to destroy a being called Sentinal Knight. He was locked away in a dumpster."

Goldar had not known his master's son very well, the tyke being only a baby at the time they invaded Vica, but if something had happened to Lord Zedd's heir, he would avenge it. And so would Rita.

Gasket read the scowl on the space witch's face correctly. "Don't worry, Rita. I have every intention of bringing your son and your brother here."

Rita stopped scowling. Goldar also felt a surge of relief. His master would get his son back, and personally, though he hated admitting it, Rito was Goldar's best friend. But would _she _be there too?

Goldar and Scorpina had not parted on amicable terms. She was the only female Goldar had ever really loved. She'd always resented working under Zedd, and left only a few weeks before Rita's return. She'd asked Goldar to come with her, but he chose to stay at his master's side. Goldar was Zedd's loyal minion; Scorpina was Rita's minion. Goldar had supported Rita's removal; Scorpina had not. That made Goldar angry with both Scorpina and himself. Scorpina had loved Goldar more than she loved Rita and tried to make life under Zedd work. Goldar had chosen Zedd over Scorpina and he could not forgive himself. Scorpina could have returned when Rita married Zedd, yet she didn't. Goldar could not forgive her for that. But he still loved her. Even as he plotted Rita's downfall, he wished for Scorpina's return.

"I will transport Thrax to the present, and I have already sent word to Master Vile in the M51 Galaxy. He will be bringing his forces with him."

Forces? His master's army was in the chamber below. Gasket doubtlessly had Cogs and other machine monsters at his command. Why did Gasket need Rita and Zedd's forces in the first place?

Goldar started to question Gasket, but Zedd cut him off.

"What exactly are you bringing us back from the brink of oblivion for?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Gasket laughed. "I'm rebuilding the United Alliance of Evil!"

* * *

Goldar observed the contents of his new quarters. The color grey predominated: grey walls, grey nightstands, a grey bed with grey sheets and grey pillows, a grey chest, a grey tiled bathroom. There was a narrow glass window through which Goldar could look out and see desert mountains surrounding the base. It was comfortable enough, but Goldar's thoughts were troubled. Zedd and Rita were celebrating their return from oblivion in private and Goldar would not disturb his master, but he remained uneasy. It was apparent to everyone that Gasket wanted Dark Specter's throne. It was equally obvious that Mondo, Machina, and Sprocket would not be returning. If they could destroy the machine that brought them to this time, Gasket would not be able to control them, but it was for Lord Zedd to decide when to act. They might need allies. _Keep_ _your mind on strategy, Goldar_, he told himself. Finding out that the Z-Wave had killed him in an alternate timeline and purified his master gave the golden armored simian warrior a new appreciation for life. But new life meant new hope and a new future. Now was not the time to dwell on what he should have done differently in the past. So why could he not get Scorpina out of his head?

* * *

Rita, Zedd, Goldar, and Finster stood in the throne room where Gasket and Archerina were seated. Master Vile's Space Skull had been sighted within the planet's atmosphere, so it would not be long before Rita's father and brother teleported to the throne room.

"So," Gasket said to Zedd in an attempt at humor, "Should I make Vile your boss, or you his boss?"

"I am sure Your Majesty will work it out to our mutual misery."

Then three beings teleported into the throne room.

"Rita, my dastardly daughter!" Vile hobbled toward Rita, ready to embrace her. His son, however, was much quicker.

"Sis! Goldie! Ed! It's been ages! Gimme a hug!" Zedd stepped backward to avoid the hug that Rito shared with both Rita and Goldar.

"My name is still Zedd, you fool." Zedd said icily, displaying a slightly annoyed but ultimately-accepting-as-inevitable-outlook at Rito's mistake. nor joy at having the skeleton back in his life.

Zedd's indifference to Rito was the polar opposite to the emotions surging between Goldar and the third member of the party. Goldar wanted to rush up to Scorpina and plant a deep passionate kiss on her lips, but his love was at war with his since of betrayal. _Why did you never return?_ Goldar's eyes implored. But he could also read the look in her eyes: _Do you still care more about Zedd than about me?_

Master Vile's booming voice cut into everyone's thoughts. "So, Gasket, when do we get my grandson back?"

"Right. Please follow me."

They returned to the chamber where Gasket had first brought Rita and Zedd into the present. Narzag was again seated at the controls. He swiveled his chair to face Gasket.

"Your Majesty, I've locked onto Thrax in the year 2007."

"Then what are you waiting for? Lock on and energize."

Narzag complied. Electricity and smoke filled the chamber. In moments a figure appeared, shrouded in the smoke. When the chamber was clear, Gasket ordered the glass lowered and Thrax looked at two beings he had only seen in a photograph.

"Mom? Dad?" He then looked behind Rita and Zedd to see the monster who'd raised him. "Grampa?" he said to Master Ville.

"We have bent the laws of physics to get us all here, now, but I assure you, my boy, everyone is really here."

"My _boy!" _ Zedd mentally sneered at Vile. Thrax was his son, not Vile's. He and Rita had conceived him while they were celebrating the overthrow of the House of Gadgetry. They put their plans of conquest on hold for a year and let Divatox fight the Rangers while Rita carried Thrax and gave birth to him. They only left him with Vile when Dark Specter ordered them to the Vica Galaxy and exempted Vile due to his age. Zedd could have only permitted Vile to raise his son if both he and Rita were dead as they were thought to be in this timeline or purified as they had been in the previous one.

"Thrax is my son, and I intend to undo anyway that you've warped him, Vile!"

"You should be thanking me. I raised him while you weren't around!" Vile shouted back.

Thrax struck the ground with his staff. He pointed it accusingly, first at Zedd who was more of a stranger, then at Vile.

"I'm an adult monster. I'm not going to be anyone's pawn."

Zedd and Vile both started blustering about what Thrax owed them. Zedd argued on the grounds that he was Thrax's father; Vile on the grounds that he had actually raised him. Rita ignored her husband and her father and approached her son telling him how happy she was to see him.

Gasket, who had been watching amusedly finally interjected, "I'm afraid that there's one being here that you are going to have to obey."

"Mother, who is he?" Thrax pointed to Gasket with his staff.

"That's Gasket, Grand Monarch of Evil. It was his time machine that enabled us all to be here. He's the only one who knows how to work the device so we have to be loyal to him," then Rita whispered, "For now."

Thrax recognized the name. This must be King Mondo's son. He was eager to learn what his mother was planning, but she was right. They should be loyal to the Machine King _for now_.


	2. Chapter 2: Divatox

"Have you tracked them all down?" Gasket asked Narzag.

"Yes, but they were in different places at the time of the Z-Wave. Divatox was on Aquitar, Elgar was on Earth and Havoc was with your parents."

"We certainly don't want to bring them back," Gasket rubbed his chin. "Is there any way to lock on to General Havoc alone and bring him to the present?"

"Of course there is," Narzag leaned back and cracked his knuckles. "I will just lock on to the cybernetic life form standing near your parents. It's the same technique I used to avoid bringing Trey of Triforia along with Rita and Zedd, by locking on to their monster DNA."

"Then bring Havoc here first," Gasket pointed with his sword.

"Yes, sire," Narzag bowed and went to work on the controls.

The chamber became filled once more with smoke and electricity. When it cleared, General Havoc stood at attention. He looked at Gasket and Narzag trying to piece together who they were and what he was doing here. He had seen a holographic photo of Gasket one time when he was discussing strategy with Mondo, so it was not difficult for Havoc to put things together.

"Prince Gasket, I presume."

Gasket felt a surge of annoyance but put up an affable front. "It's King Gasket these days. You're in the year 2026."

"Our armies?" Havoc inquired already turning his mind to picking up where Dark Specter left off.

"I have most of the Machine Imperial Remnant at my command. Sadly, I can't teleport any of the artificial life forms that fought at your last battle for risk of bringing my parents and brother into this timeline. Rita, Zedd, Master Vile and their forces are here."

"I see," Havoc said, and he did see what Gasket's point meant for all of them. _Your obsession with being king will only hurt our long term war against good._

"Since I control this time machine, I have assumed Dark Specter's mantle. As a command decision, I'm putting you in charge of Divatox's forces."

_That's one strategy I can agree with_. Havoc thought of his sister as moody, vain, and too emotional to truly succeed as a Queen of Evil. Divatox's great victory over the Turbo Rangers was due only to the fact the she was able to get Goldgoyle in her employment long enough to destroy the Rangers' Zords. Dark Specter had seen Divatox's fluke for what it was when he charged Astronema with the task of destroying the Space Rangers. Havoc had always resented his sister, but only a woman could be Pirate Queen. Despite Havoc's age as Mamma D's firstborn, his intellectual prowess, and iron will, it was his little sister who got to be queen.

"Before I bring the Divatox we know into the present timeline I think I should show you what she has been doing since the great defeat," Gasket lead Havoc upstairs to his throne room.

Once there Archerina embraced Gasket. "Beloved, I've put Rita in charge of her armies because I was tired of listening to Zedd and Vile bicker over every command decision."

"Well done, Archerina! Not being in command should work to Zedd and Vile's mutual misery."

Rita…now if she had been his sister, Havoc could have accepted her rulership.

Gasket used his sword to turn on a Machine view screen.

"Observe, my dear general, the planet Inquirias. Notice the similarities between the two white-robbed women."

Havoc watched two women seated on marble benches in an open air sanctuary, giving advice to warriors for good. He then remembered.

"Inquirias is Dimitria's homeworld!" One woman, whom he recognized as Dimitria, wore a veil. The other woman was harder to recognize without her mask, but Havoc had seen his sister unmasked enough to recognize her as the other woman.

"What is Divatox doing with Dimitria?"

Havoc continued looking at the screen while Gasket spoke, "Rita, Zedd, Divatox, and Astronema were purified rather than destroyed. I had to do considerable damage to the timeline to bring Rita and Zedd back to their full evil potential. The reason your sister is with Dimitria is that she is Dimitria's biological sister."

Havoc spun around to lock his eyes on Gasket.

"I have a file in your quarters that tells you about the leads I followed to come to this conclusion. Your real little sister died shortly after her birth. You remember her getting sick?"

Havoc nodded. He was not going to believe anything that Gasket said until he could back it up himself.

"Your mother then arranged the kidnapping of a little girl from the planet Inquirias. Dimitria's birth records reveal that she had a twin. This twin was raised as the Divatox you know. Your mother's present contact information is also in the file."

"I am not a fool, Gasket! I will read the file, speak to my mother, and get someone I trust to perform DNA tests on Divatox and myself."

"You would indeed be a fool if you didn't verify these statements for yourself in a way that I could not tamper with. And I warn you that I will have no fool for my second-in-command, Havoc!"

At that moment a Cog entered the throne room. Gasket pointed to it and said, "This Cog will show you to your quarters."

Once inside his quarters, Havoc read through the file that Gasket had prepared. He spent an entire hour siting on his grey sofa reading the file. Then he approached the television-like communications device. With a series of touch screen commands, Havoc's mother appeared on the screen.

"Havoc!" she shouted joyfully. "Gasket did it! You're back!"

"It's nice to see you too, mommy, however I have learned troubling things that I need your help to understand." The strict disciplinarian melted into childlike forms of speech when talking to Mama D. He had earned her love and was entitled to address her as "mommy".

"How can I help my favorite offspring?"

"It's about my sister. Why is she on Inquirias?" Havoc picked up the file. "Are the things written here true?"

Mama D stopped smiling; her face became solid as stone.

"Havoc, I did what I had to to make sure that there would be a pirate queen when I die," she said without any hint of emotion in her voice.

Havoc knew her well enough to tell that she was fuming. She had also just confirmed for him that Divatox was not his biological sister, and therefore not his rightful queen.

"I see, mother. Very shortly we shall be bringing Divatox back from the time period before she was purified. I'd very much appreciate if you could come see us shortly." Havoc returned to a more formal tone. Asking his questions had made her put up her defenses.

"Why do you need me? Can't you handle things?" she asked.

"I'm plotting to seize control of Gasket's throne for Divatox and I need someone to persuade her to follow my lead until the Machine King is eliminated."

Mama D wasn't buying it so Havoc tried again, this time with a choking voice.

"I _am_ trying to overthrow Gasket, but I'm still loyal to you mother, and to my sister. It's just that learning she might not be of our blood confused me. Please mother, I need you."

Mama D smiled at the thought of helping her favorite child come to grips with the decision she had made so long ago.

"Alright Dear. I'll come." She ended the communication. Havoc smiled beneath his mask.

He would have to call her again after the evil Divatox was restored to this timeline. Mama D's memories would change from knowing Divatox was purified to thinking she was dead. The most important thing now was that Havoc knew Divatox was not his sister and he would most assuredly NOT be loyal to her.

* * *

The chamber crackled and fumed with electricity and smoke, and a disoriented Elgar appeared with a chamberfull of Piranhatrons and Quantrons.

"There are even more in the chamber below," Gasket told Havoc.

Elgar looked around in confusion until he spotted Havoc.

"Uncle Havoc!" Elgar shouted.

"Elgar, did you see a golden wave approaching you before saw this room?" Havoc asked.

"Yuh-huh," Elgar said.

"If it had not been for this time machine it would have turned you to dust. Please get out of the chamber while we prepare to transport Divatox to this timeline."

Narzag pressed a button and the chamber's glass wall slid into the floor. Elgar and the soldiers disembarked. Gasket watched as the glass rose once again and the process was completed on the floor below.

"Now!" Gasket ordered Narzag.

The being from Horath locked on to Divatox's army on Aquitar just as the Z-Wave became visible in Aquitar's atmosphere. Divatox, Rygog, and Porto appeared in the chamber with a host of monsters and Piranhatrons. As before, the chamber in the sub-sub-basement was also filled. Gasket had the wall lowered.

"Are we dead?" Rygog asked.

"Let me see." Divatox said and conked him on the head.

"Ow!"

"Thought not." Divatox looked around and saw Havoc and Gasket. "Havoc, who is your robot friend?"

"Sister, might I introduce to His Highness, King Gasket, ruler of the Machine Empire and Grand Monarch of all that is evil."

Divatox rolled her eyes. "I thought Mondo was the Machine King and Astronema"—Divatox stopped speaking and thought about what was happening. "Is Astronema dead?"

"Much worse. She turned good," _Just like you_.

Divatox gave a wild high pitched yelp and scampered down from teleportation pad.

"So when are we?"

"We are twenty-eight earth years into the future. Rita, Zedd, and Master Vile are already here," Havoc said.

Divatox looked Gasket over. Why was someone she only vaguely thought she knew of in charge?

"Are we all that's left?"

"No," Gasket said for Havoc was truly unable to answer that one. "Most of the villains worth making alliances with have for one reason or another been defeated by Ranger teams. This time machine, which only I know how to operate, is our means of recruitment."

When Gasket said that a crazed look entered Divatox's eyes.

"Havoc, we are going to use this time machine to finally win my custody battle with Scorpius."

Havoc simply looked to Gasket as if to invite a response. Havoc had last seen this girl who was not really his niece nearly three thousand years ago. Her father, Scorpius, entered the cocoon that his parents had prepared for him and emerged as a half-scorpion half-octopus looking creature. Divatox promptly left him. She fought a millennia long custody battle with Scorpius over their daughter, but Dark Specter kept rulling in Scorpius's favor. Scorpius was away on assignment in a different region of space at the time of the Z-Wave, so he may have been out of its range and alive today.

"I'm afraid I can't let you use this device to let you recapture your daughter's lost childhood. I have other plans for Trakeena." Gasket said.

Gasket looked at the rage boiling behind Divatox's eyes. "Do not worry; you will get to see her. Trakeena has become quite a formidable villain in her own right and, as heir to both you and Scorpius, she will have a host of male monsters lined up to seek her hand, which I, as Grand Monarch, will bestow upon the monster of my choice."

"And why should I let you control my daughter's future?" Divatox asked.

"Because with my time machine, I control all our futures. You needn't worry that I'd marry her off to someone like your nephew. I have more princely candidates in mind." Gasket was thinking to do all he could to encourage competition and distrust between Thrax and Olympius. Divatox was having none of it.

"What gives you the right to—" Divatox started to scream at Gasket.

"If you don't like the way I do things, I will be more than happy to send you back to the past, where the Z-Wave purifies you!" Gasket shouted back.

Havoc now knew that Gasket was his enemy. Even if he had command over Divatox's forces right now that would mean nothing if Trakeena was still legally recognized as Mama D's granddaughter. Havoc had to disinherit the whole family line even if it meant making an enemy of Scorpius. First though, he had to deal with Gasket. Even though he would betray them later, Divatox, Scorpius, and Trakeena might be useful allies now. And he could always make common cause with Rita and Zedd. They bore the Machine Empire little love. But he would let Gasket finish assembling his army first.


	3. Chapter 3: Trakeena

The idea that Trakeena's mother is Divatox is mine (I'm the same guy who wrote "The Adventures of Bulk and Skull," which I've since deleted.) The idea that Deviot is related to the House of Gadgetry is not mine, but I can't remember who came up with it. I like Deviot, but I imagine that his power hungry nature would assert itself in more innocent and childlike ways if he were around family, and for this fic he's Gasket's first cousin.

* * *

"I want to be very careful in today's transportations," Gasket said. "Scorpius was fatally wounded a few days before Trakeena returned to him. His last act was to leave her in charge of his forces. We want to bring Scorpius and my cousin Deviot here from just before Scorpius's wounding. Then we want to bring Trakeena and her personal trainer Villamax here from the day he announced that her training was complete."

Havoc had been reviewing Trakeena's file. Apparently this girl who was not his niece had ran away from her father when he tried to get her to enter a cocoon he had created for her. She preferred her humanoid beauty to the insectoid powers her father was offering her. She was clearly her mother's daughter at that stage in her life, and Havoc would have dismissed her as an irrelevance had her file ended there, but he had kept reading. On Onyx she learned to be a warrior under the tutelage of Villamax and returned to the Scorpion Stinger in time to witness Scorpius's death and succeed him as the Galaxy Rangers main enemy. She showed the clear levelheadedness that so many villains lacked when she decided that preserving her life and resources was more important than satisfying a personal vendetta. The space colony that the Galaxy Rangers defended, Terra Venture was being pulled in to the mysterious and seemingly inescapable region of space known as the Lost Galaxy. Trakeena still had a dead father to avenge, but she put her life and her ability to wage war first and broke off pursuit of the Rangers. Of course, she did go crazy after Deviot forcibly fused with her in the cocoon, but that was more his fault than hers. She was Divatox's daughter, but she was competent like Havoc. Since they were not really related and Trakeena had no husband, she might not necessarily have to be Havoc's enemy…

"I've locked on to Scorpius, Deviot, and their entire army of Stingwingers," Narzag said.

"Then what are you waiting for? Bring them to us immediately!" Gasket commanded.

When the smoke and electricity died down, the teleportation chamber was filled with confused Stingwingers, an agitated Scorpius with tenacles sprawled across the floor and under the feet of some Stingwingers, and a relieved Deviot. The glass had not finished descending yet when Deviot called out to Gasket, "Cousin!"

"Not just your cousin, Deviot, but the new Grand Monarch of Evil." Gasket looked at Scorpius whose tentacles were being trampled by his own soldiers. "Stingwingers! Give your liege some dignity!"

At Gasket's command, the Stingwingers moved away from Scorpius. Two got down on all fours facing Gasket while two others picked up Scorpius and set him on the prostrating two's shoulders.

"I demand to know what is going on!" Scorpius bellowed.

"Don't worry Scorpius! Your daughter will be here soon. I've brought you twenty-seven Earth years into the future," Gasket explained.

Scorpius had heard this machine use Dark Specter's title—one that Scorpius hoped to one day use for himself or at least pave the way for his daughter to use. This machine might deserve his loyalty if really had gathered sufficient forces.

"You are King Mondo's son?"

"Indeed. I am Gasket, Machine King and Grand Monarch of Evil."

But Scorpius was no longer listening to Gasket. His eyes were on Havoc.

"Is _she_ here?" Scorpius asked, obviously referring to Divatox.

"She is," Havoc said, "but she is not in command of her forces. I am. I have also gotten Porto to analyze the DNA from saliva samples—

"General, what I lead you to investigate about your sister was for your personal information only. It has nothing to do with my plans for her daughter." Gasket glared at Havoc. "If you want to remain my second-in-command, much less alive, you'll keep your mouth shut!"

"What he has learned about his sister may be important to me, since she's my Trakeena's mother!" Scorpius said, indignant that Gasket was withholding secrets from him about his daughter's ancestry.

"What does it matter if Divatox is not Mama D's blood daughter? Thrax and Olympius are going to see marriage to Trakeena as the way to solidify their own camps with Scorpius's and Divatox's!"

"And what if Trakeena does not want to marry either of them?" Scorpius asked.

"That's not her place," Gasket said. "I will decide who she marries, divorces, and remarries as Thrax and Olympius rise and fall in my favor."

"My daughter is not some bargaining piece."

"I'm thinking about bigger issues than just your daughter. It is not my goal to create unified factions, but rival factions that will depend on me to arbitrate for them." Gasket paused letting his words sink in. "If you have grandchildren in opposite camps, both will want your throne and I can always dangle it before them without giving it to any of them."

"And you truly believe she'll just go along with your plans?" Scorpius said, incredulous.

"Not willingly," Gasket rubbed his chin, "but as long as I have this time machine, I can send you to any point in history, and insure your destruction. I'm afraid you and your daughter will have no choice but to comply."

Havoc read the look on Scorpius's face. _Well done, Gasket! You've turned another potentially loyal servant into an enemy. Have you learned nothing from Bansheera's file?_

"That was masterfully played, cousin," Deviot said stepping toward Gasket. "All of these organics must cower in terror before your time machine. Now that I'm here what role do you have for me?"

Gasket threw his head back and laughed. "Deviot, Deviot, Deviot," Gasket sighed, "You shall remain Scorpius's General."

Deviot stumbled toward Gasket. Had his cousin just denied him a position of higher power? He was willing to work for Scorpius while he had the chance of gaining the cocoon's power and the Machine Empire was on the ropes, but now that his cousin had this new power, he expected family ties to count for something.

"Gasket, I'm your cousin. You know I always disagreed with your father's decision to disinherit you. I should be your second-in-command! Not Divatox's brother!"

Machine faces were impossible to read, except by other machines. Deviot could tell that Gasket was not angry with him, just coldly dismissive.

"Deviot, Havoc is my second-in-command because he is a strategic genius. If I put you in charge of Scorpius's forces how could Trakeena be your heir?" Gasket said in carefully measured beats. He was not angry with his cousin, but he had to make it clear there was no higher rank for him to ascend to.

"But you're the Grand Monarch of Evil? How many armies do you command?" Deviot's whining was starting to become annoying.

"Four, and before everything is over I intend to have seven."

"Who are their leaders?" Deviot whined like a small child.

"Rita, Havoc, Scorpius, Diabolico, Zurgane, Mesogog, and myself as Machine King," Gasket said exasperated.

"You are the Grand Monarch of Evil! You already have power over everyone you mentioned!" Deviot ranted. "If you are taking Dark Specter's place, why can't I be the Machine King?"

Giving Deviot an important title would in Havoc's view placate him. If he were smart, Gasket would keep all the real power himself but let his cousin have a royal title so he could save face. Gasket was batting zero for three today, as he had alienated Havoc, Scorpius, and Deviot.

Gasket put his hand on Deviot's shoulder and softly said, "No." Deviot had always supported Gasket against his father. Surely, Gasket thought, he couldn't expect him to give up the Machine Empire now.

Turning his attention to Scorpius, Gasket said, "If you will kindly disembark from the teleportation chamber, I will bring your daughter here."

Scorpius complied and the Stingwingers seated him upon the ledge on top of the control panel that Narzag was operating. Within five minutes Trakeena, Villamax, and Keglar were standing in the teleportation chamber. The glass lowered and Trakeena stepped out to kneel and take her father's tentacle in her hand.

"Father," she said gesturing to Villamax, "This is Villamax. He's been training me to be a warrior ever since I ran away…"

Scorpius ignored Villamax and said to Trakeena ,"We have both been teleported twenty-seven Earth years into the future, Trakeena. Might I present our new host? Gasket, Machine King, and Grand Monarch of Evil."

"Welcome to the future, Trakeena," Gasket bowed. "I will see about sending a crew to bring the Scorpion Stinger to this planet. Your mother is also here."

"I have no interest in seeing her," Trakeena said. Divatox had abandoned her as a child. She hadn't even seen her in nearly three thousand years.

"I'm afraid that _I_ have an interest in you seeing her. As the heir to both Scorpius and Divatox your marriage potential is unparalleled!"

Trakeena couldn't believe this! She ran away, trained to become a warrior, and for what…to be married off in some bizarre alternate future. _Sorry Gasket, but I'm not playing by your rules_.

"You obviously don't know me," Trakeena said slowly, "but if and when I marry, it will be to the monster I decide!" She ended in a defiant tone.

"If you won't cooperate, I'll send you across space time into the core of a star!"

Scorpius started to say something to back up Trakeena, but she no longer needed her father to fight for her.

"Go ahead, get rid of me. You'll have to bring me back to get my father to cooperate with you."

"Maybe, but not at this rebellious age," Gasket thought aloud, "perhaps as a little girl that Archerina and I can mold into an obedient pawn."

"Do that and I will rebel!" Scorpius bellowed.

Havoc picked up the ball from Scorpius and said, "You can kill them and bring them back as many times as you want, but each time they will be fighting you with a fresh unbroken will, while you will keep the same old weary battle going, never advancing against Earth or the Rangers."

Gasket looked at Havoc incredulously.

"General, I thought one warning to you might be enough for today, but if you keep—

"Sire, I'm trying to help you!" Havoc dropped to one knee.

Gasket noticed Havoc's submissive posture. He realized that Havoc's strategic brilliance could be no help to him if he did not occasionally listen to it.

"All right, General, I'm listening."

"If Your Majesty will pardon my speaking the truth, you are making the same mistake Queen Bansheera did."

Gasket crossed his arms and seemed to be propping himself up on his sword. "Elaborate."

"You are expecting unconditional loyalty out of anyone you bring to this timeline with the machine. Fear for their own survival will keep them loyal to a point, but as you can see that is not enough to make Trakeena—How did your majesty say 'marry, divorce and remarry Thrax and Olympius' depending upon how they serve you? Even my incompetent adopted sister would not willingly be subjected to that. I suggest that you use the time machine and deception to keep any one faction from challenging you, but otherwise rule as Dark Specter ruled. Let factions form, splinter, and dissolve naturally. Give your soldiers the illusion they are fighting as much for their own interests as for yours and you will get better performances out of them."

Gasket stroked his chin, and, after a long deliberate pause, he said, "There is merit to what you have said, Havoc." Turning to Trakeena, he said, "You can marry or not marry who you want, just don't form any major power blocks behind my back. Now, if you will all excuse me, Archerina is waiting." Gasket bowed and left the room.

"Deviot, your family is strange," Scorpius said.

"And your brother-in-law is a skilled negotiator."

Trakeena looked Havoc over, unsure how far she should trust him or how to take his next statement.

"Hello, Trakeena. My name is Havoc. Your mother is not really my sister and I am not really your uncle."


	4. Chapter 4: Bansheera

The name of Bansheera's first husband is taken from the bigger bad figure in _Extreme Dinosaurs_. In this story, as in many fan theories, Diabolico is Olympius's biological father.

* * *

Goldar paced outside Scorpina's room, trying to think of what to say to her. _Hi Scorpina, do you want to…see the Qudrafighters take off_…NO! That wouldn't work! There was nothing on this Machine base! Goldar saw the door to Scorpina's room slide open. His ex-girlfriend stood there with crossed arms and an annoyed look on her face.

"Why do you find the need to annoy me with your plodding steps outside my room?"

"I was just thinking," Goldar started nervously, "That since your mistress and my master are married now and have a son now, that we could…" Goldar gulped. He wanted to say "get back together," but instead said "stop being enemies?"

Scorpina slowly nodded and said, "All right, we are on the same side now, but if you even try to pursue a romantic relationship with me, I'll break your neck!"

Goldar nodded. They were allies now. Maybe that could lead to friendship and then eventually to romance. He hurried on his way to the mess hall for breakfast. The leaders of the armies got breakfast delivered to them in their rooms, the henchmonsters ate in the mess hall. The room was a relief after the endless grey of the corridors and rooms: yellow walls and orange tiles. Goldar noticed Rito sitting at one of the tables. After standing in line to get some live snake eggs, Goldar hurried to join his skeleton friend.

"Goldie! You haven't said two words to me since Gasket brought you to the future."

"I know, Rito. Sorry about that. It's just that I've been trying to work up the nerve to talk to my old girlfriend. She thinks I chose Zedd over her."

"Did you?" Rito asked, cracking one of the eggs he was eating and sucking green slime out of it.

Goldar stared off into space, and said. almost to himself, "I guess I did, really."

"And that hurt her, because Scorpina really loved you. I've known her for twenty-eight years, Goldie."

Goldar looked at Rito, just now realizing who all had been living under Master Vile's roof.

"I thought she was pretty and tried puttin' my moves on her, but she said I was too intellectually challenged to be anything more than a close friend. We talked a lot about you," Rito said.

"Has she loved anyone else?"

"Not romantically, no," Rito shook his head. Rito looked at his friend, trying to understand what Goldar was going through, and at the same time realizing that he was woefully unequipped to answer him.

"I thought she would only see my choosing to be with Lord Zedd as me being loyal to my master."

"Ed doesn't know how lucky he is to have you, Goldie. You gave up true love for him and I only ever saw him treat you like dirt." Goldar stared at Rito. "Think about it, Goldie. We were way happier when we worked for Bulk and Skull."

"We're monsters, Rito!" Goldar reminded him.

"I know. And I wouldn't trade the years I helped Dad raise lil' Thrax for anything. I just think sometimes that humans have it easier."

* * *

In the teleportation chamber Gasket, Havoc, and Narzog were watching the events at the Skull Cavern twenty-six years ago on the viewscreen.

"He'll never take my powers," a defiant Diabolico said on his knees to Bansheera and Olympius.

"No, but I will, and there's nothing you can do to stop us!" Bansheera said.

"Now!" Gasket yelled. Narzag entered the commands into the controls to bring every inhabitant of the Skull Cavern into the present. The usual smoke and crackling electricity were present, but the confusion had given Diabolico a chance to escape from the Queen's clutches. The Queen, shocked by the teleportation had let her nail shrink back to their usual length. Gasket ordered the glass to be lowered.

The Demons and Battlings stared at the Machine King. Bansheera and Diaboliico also looked at Havoc, whom they had fought against before. Dark Specter had forced the Demons to join the First United Alliance of Evil just before they were imprisoned.

"Welcome to the year 2026, my demonic subjects…"

"I am not your subject, you pathetic machine! You will pay for delaying the restoration of my palace!"

Havoc loved listening to Bansheera rant, especially when she was in over her head. He watched as she tried to use her nails to reprogram Gasket, only to find that she couldn't make them extend.

"What have you done to me!?"

Gasket with a mechanically dispassionate voice said, "A wounded, cornered animal is only dangerous if it still has its claws. While we were bringing you here we made an extraction from your life force energy." Gasket turned to Narzag. "Convert Bansheera's extra energy back into Vypra."

Narzag entered the command into the computer and in a moment an additional demon was standing on the pad.

Vypra looked around. She saw her enemies: Bansheera, Olympius, Jinxer, and Havoc. She saw two beings she didn't recognize: a machine and a being that appeared to half-human/half-lizard. Diabolico was the only being she thought would certainly be an ally.

"Can you use this machine to bring back Loki?" Diabolico asked.

"Eventually. When you've stayed in this building long enough your memories will be unaffected by alterations to the timeline, but as for now, I need you to remember Loki's death," Gasket explained. "In fact," Gasket looked at Olympius, "I need you all to reacquaint yourselves with distant past." He looked to Bansheera. "I'm sure you remember my second-in-command," Gasket gestured toward Havoc, who gave a mock bow.

"How could I forget? He killed my father in Dark Specter's war," Bansheera said.

"And I killed your husband and forced you to submit to Dark Specter's rule before your followers were imprisoned and you lost physical form," Havoc said.

"I thought you were dead," Bansheera said angrily.

"I was, but this time machine brought me back, the same as it did all of you, and I have read your files. I know exactly how the Lightspeed Rangers defeated you."

"What!?" Bansheera and Olympius screamed simultaneously. Jinxer took a step backward. Vypra looked confused. Diabolico softly chuckled.

"It all began five thousand years ago, just before I killed Bansheera's impotent husband, King Argor."

Diabolico stopped chuckling. He knew his secret was about to be revealed. He actually dropped back down to his knees, this time of his own free will.

"Bansheera 's family had gone for generations without marrying other royals. Very little blood from Quarganon the Terrible flowed in her veins—hence her marriage to another of his descendants. But King Argor was physically weak, only a bit smarter than my nephew, Elgar, and was infertile. So he delegated his duty of fathering an heir to his vassal Diabolico."

"You lie!" Olympius shouted.

Havoc just smiled behind his mask as Diabolico said, "No. He speaks the truth."

Olympius looked to his mother to tell him that this was all an elaborate deception, but she gave him no comfort. She said merely, "What does it matter that Diabolico is your father? He failed to keep you in the Shadow World and you later defeated him!"

Olympius felt incredible anger toward his mother for not telling him the truth, but now in this future world he had to keep a level head and ask two questions that mattered more. The first he would demand an answer to now. The other, he would ask his mother later. He pointed his spear toward Havoc. "How did _you_ know?"

"Could you believe that she told me while we were discussing marriage? Dark Specter's newest vassal wedded to his most loyal general. I imagine that Bansheera preferred Diabolico to Argor and me to Diabolico. She always liked winners."

"You flatter yourself, Havoc! I negotiated marriage because it seemed like the best option available but I didn't remain under Dark Specter's control for long!"

"No, a wizard locked your army away, destroyed your physical form, and exiled your spirit to deepest space. Not exactly a victory."

Gasket put a hand on Havoc's shoulder. "Please, General, only insult them if you think it will help us."

"That's what I'm doing, Majesty. I know the way Bansheera's mind works."

Havoc turned to face the Demons once more. "I have watched you on the time machine's view screen. Much of what I am about to say you already know since you lived through it, but please bear with me. You were released from your prison in the year 2000, and tried to rebuild Queen Bansheera's palace, but you were thwarted by the Lightspeed Rangers. Diabolico acted as your leader in Queen Bansheera's absence, but her incorporeal form soon contacted you. Shortly after this, Diabolico was destroyed by the Lightspeed Rangers. Queen Bansheera gave Impus his father's star power which transformed him into Olympius." Havoc began pacing, "Olympius came up with a brilliant plan to gain access to the Ranger's Aquabase by taking the form of Rangers he had captured." Havoc stared directly at Olympius. "For someone who had just recently been a baby that was a brilliant plan. Even Vypra approved." Havoc broke eye contact, "Unfortunately, the plan was not foolproof and it failed. This earned Olympius Vypra's enmity, even though, as I said for such a young monster he showed clever thinking. Soon you held a ceremony to restore Bansheera's physical form, but the Rangers caused you to botch the ceremony and Bansheera returned with most of her body encased in stone. Olympius repeatedly failed her, but being so young, he should not have been in a command position yet anyway. Vypra and Loki were to be put in charge but Olympius tried to destroy them. However they survived and brought Diabolico back with them. Next, Diabolico hijacked his son's plan to trap the Rangers in the Shadow Realm to trap Olympius there. He succeeded, although the Rangers escaped. It is there that your experiences diverge."

Havoc spun around and pointed to Diabolico and Vypra with his flexible sword. "Diabolico, Vypra, and Loki were caught by Queen Bansheera whose words "Olympius was a failure. Let him rot there forever!"

Havoc could see that he had hurt Olympius with what he said, for the dragon demon was staring angrily at his mother. His other question had just been answered. She knew and didn't care. Havoc continued looking at Vypra. "Of course, if Bansheera was willing to abandon her son for his failures, you shouldn't have accepted any better for yourself. Bansheera absorbed Vypra's life force energy to restore her full physical form." Havoc then turned to Diabolico, "Bansheera gave approval to Loki's plan to destroy the Rangers. Diabolico overheard her call all her minions 'expendable'. He tried to help Loki when Bansheera teleported the two of them and the Rangers to the Skull Cavern. She then brifly controlled Diabolico's movements long enough to force him to shoot Loki and the Rangers with Loki's own weapon. The Rangers survived but Loki didn't. Diabolico's loyalty was now compromised."

Havoc started pacing again, "It is at this point that Olympius renters our story. He fought his way through an army of monsters to absorb their strength and return from the Shadow World. Though injured by the Rangers after his escape he had recovered to the point that he had defeated his father and brought him back to the queen whom if we had not intervened would have turned him into a mindless puppet. Our time machine has a video feed to the alternate past where the Rangers defeated you." Havoc looked to Gasket and asked, "My liege, may I show them the fates we saved them from?"

"By all means. Computer, display the video recordings relating to Queen Bansheera's defeat in the original timeline." The Demons stepped out from the teleporter chamber to watch.

It was all there: Diabolico and Olympius destroying all but two of the Lightspeed Megazords, The Liforce Megazord destroying them, Jinxer's Batling card on the Megazord's leg, the destruction of the Aquabase, Bansheera's ceremony to bring all the defeated monsters back from the Shadow World, Carter Grayson holding on to a ledge in the tomb while Bansheera held onto him with her extended fingernails, and Diabolico's spirit blasting away Bansheera's fingernails and making her fall into the Shadow World. After the video recordings were over, Diabolico chuckled and Bansheera stared reaching out to touch the screen. The other Demons, Olympius included, were looking at Gasket now for leadership.

"I have plans to conquer the entire universe, plans which include rebuilding your old palace over the ruins of Mariner Bay. However I want you more concentrated on destroying our enemies than each other."

While Gasket was talking Havoc moved behind Bansheera and whispered to her to bring Olympius with her and meet him in Scorpius's quarters, room 301.

After Gasket dismissed the Demons, he, Narzag, and Diabolico remained behind to teleport Loki into the present. Narzag had called on a team of monster doctors and was ready to teleport Loki the instant he told Diabolico, "Good-bye." This last minute teleportation would have the effect of making it look like had indeed died and there would be no further need to adjust Diabolico's memories. He would still remember that Bansheera killed his friend. What Narzag could not understand was Diabolico could be so concerned about his friend and so hostile toward his son.

* * *

Diabolico's son was en route to Scorpius's quarters, with angry questions for his mother.

"So, you wanted me to rot in the Shadow realm forever?"

"You had failed me, Olympius. I thought you were worthless, but you proved me wrong. You defeated an entire army and then defeated your father, and if you hadn't been pulled into the future you would have destroyed two Megazords. Your later work has made me proud."

Olympius quickly raised his spear to Bansheera's throat. The Queen was taken off guard.

"You do not have all your powers in this timeline but I do. Now tell me if you had any motherly love for me at all!"

Bansheera was actually proud of how aggressive her son was becoming. "Yes, I did, especially when you were Impus. But when you became an adult, I needed a warrior not a pampered prince. You couldn't have disappointed me if I didn't have great expectations for you. But now you are fulfilling those expectations –" Bansheera didn't finish that thought, as Olympius grabbed her by the throat and started to squeeze.

"You forget that in the past you failed too, Mother. Not just against the Rangers, but against the Sorcerer of the Sands, and before that against General Havoc." Olympius squeezed harder. "I still need you to negotiate for me, and since I'm now your illegitimate child with Diabolico, I need you to publicly declare me your heir, but after what I found out about you today any feelings of filial devotion I had are over."

Olympius did not want Havoc or Scorpius to see him quarreling with his mother so he let her go.

"Ingrate," she muttered hoarsely.

When they reached Scorpius's door, Olympius touched the rectangular chime and Scorpius's voice said "Enter." The door responding to Scorpius's voice opened. Inside the room, perched atop a grey platform designed to resemble a rocky outcrop, sat a creature that appeared to be part spider, part octopus. This, Olympius guessed, was Scorpius. Havoc was also standing in the room, as was a robot Olympius couldn't identify. Olympius did vaguely recognize the young female monster lying across the bed with her feet up and arms crossed beneath her chin. It was as if he had seen her somewhere and forgotten all about her. He also knew that she was studying him with her eyes.

"Prince Olympius, Queen Bansheera, allow me to introduce you Scorpius, former general to Dark Specter, his daughter, Trakeena, and Deviot, first cousin to King Gasket. We are all here because we believe that Gasket has taken too much power upon himself. We want a Grand Monarch of Evil who does not have exclusive control of the time machine," Havoc said.

"So you want to be our new leader?" Bansheera looked at Deviot.

"No, I just want to be the new Machine King and adviser to the new Grand Monarch, someone young and wise enough to realize he'll need our advice."

"Me?" Olympius asked.

"Why not? Havoc tells me that you defeated an army of undead monsters and destroyed two Megazords," Trakeena said in a silken voice as she got up. "You are already one of the strongest monsters here. What you need to know about command my father can teach you after you become my husband…"

Olympius studied Trakeena now as she had been studying him. She was very pleasing to look at, and seemed eager for an alliance, but Olympius would not give in so easily.

"What more do you offer?" He asked as he walked toward Trakeena.

"My mother is the space pirate Divatox. With me as your wife I can solidify both her forces and my father's behind you."

Olympius, not wanting to seem dependent on his mother, quickly said, "I accept, provided you can bring as many troops as you seem to be promising."

"I have an army of Stingwingers that can plant bombs throughout an entire city and then leave while I activate the bombs from my ship," Scorpius said, eager to get a word in.

Trakeena, Olympius, and Deviot formed a small circle around Scorpius as they discussed their plans.

Bansheera and Havoc stood near the door looking at them.

"Isn't Divatox your sister?" Bansheera asked.

"_Adopted_ sister. She is a total incompetent who would not be able to stand against your Demons at their most fractious stage. However her troops are under my command now."

"And you will be the wise uncle-in-law who advises my son on strategy."

"I intend to be much more than that. I saw how Vypra and Diabolico look at you. Loki will be the same way. They will follow anyone other than you who can take Mariner Bay back for them. That's where I come in." Bansheera turned her head in disgust. It was not so much Havoc's ambition that disgusted her as it was the fact he was building it upon her failure.

"But I need my house to be linked by blood to my predecessors. Olympius's illegitimate parentage won't count against him as Grand Monarch of Evil, but it will as King of Mariner Bay if he has legitimate brothers and sisters."

Bansheera did not like where Havoc was going with this. He was her arch nemesis, but he was her only way back to the throne if Diabolico would not make peace with her.

"You'll need me to force your subjects to submit to you and you'll need army that can go under water to truly take the Aquabase! I can give you that. My Piranhatrons and Chromites could get the job done and you'd not lose a single Battling!"

"If this is twenty-six years in the future, how do I know that the Aquabase still exists?" Bansheera asked.

Havoc laughed a blood-curdling laugh that made everyone in the room stare at him.

"I can prove the Aquabase still exists with the viewscreen in these quarters."

Havoc walked to the viewscreen and commanded a imagine of the Aquabase taken earlier that month to be displayed.

"General, I think I need your help," Bansheera said with just a touch of dread in her voice.


	5. Chapter 5: Lothor and Mesogog

"So let me follow you correctly. This machine can transport people through time?" Lothor asked. He was standing in the throne room, which had a red floor, tan walls, and a white ceiling. Gasket and Archerina sat enthroned while Havoc stood to their right on a raised dais. Lothor stood on the unraised floor.

Gasket brought his finger tips to his forehead. "Yes, that's what we just did to you and your army two hours ago."

"Then could you please explain to me why we don't just send robots back in time to kill the Rangers before they were ever born?"

Gasket and Archerina looked at each other and laughed. When Gasket finally stopped laughing he said "If not for the Rangers, my father would still be alive."

"And I take it you hated him?" Lothor said.

"Of course I did," Gasket said.

"If Mondo still lived, my Gasket wouldn't be king. And he never approved of our marriage," Archerina explained, as she made a mental evaluation of Lothor. Lothor had impressive combat skills, but that was about all he had in his favor. His general Zurgane had a better grasp of tactics which was why he had been put in charge of Lothor's forces. Vexacus was as treacherous as Deviot, Shimazu was a coward, and Motodrone was hopelessly loyal to Lothor. Choobo had no strategic value but he'd make a good jester. The only thing holding Lothor's army together after they had been teleported from the final battle with the Wind and Thunder Ninja Rangers was Gasket's promise of power and influence on planet Earth. Gasket wanted to bring the full weight of his evil army upon the human home world before he set about conquering the rest of the universe. Bansheera's disregard for the lives of her soldiers had cost her their loyalty. Lothor lost his soldiers' loyalty because of his incompetence.

Havoc was clearly thinking along the same lines when he said to Lothor, "You are so incompetent, that if my adopted sister were a male, she'd be you."

"If I'm so useless, why, might I ask, did you bring me here?"

"While you may lack leadership skills, you are an incredible fighter," Gasket said.

Lothor saw where this was going, and acted exactly as Gasket and Havoc expected, dropping to his knees and began an over the top plea.

"Great and noble Machine King please do not put me under the command of one of my own former generals. Zurgane will be angry with me for all those years I never listened to his advice. Please Your Majesties, put me in your personal service."

Archerina was pleased. "Husband, we can use him as both a bodyguard and a jester to compliment Choobo."

Gasket weighed the proposal for several moments, before finally saying, "Well, okay."

Lothor was already up, gushing with thanks and promising the Machines that they would never regret his service. Havoc simply made the mental note, _Enlist Vexacus_.

* * *

In the conference room on Rita and Zedd's floor, which was monochromatic tan, Rita said at the head of the conference table in a position both Zedd and Vile regarded as their own. The monster sitting to Rita's right was Thrax, the monster in whom this whole dynasty placed their future hopes. Across from him sat his father Zedd. Thrax could read the disgust in his father's visor. Next, Goldar and Scorpina sat across from each other, both looking away from each other. Scorpina believed that Goldar had forfeited the right to look at her affectionately. Goldar knew there would never be any other ghoul like her but fearing her anger kept his eyes and ears focused on Rita's gestures and words. Rito and Finster sat opposite each other, as did Squat and Baboo. Vile sat alone at the end of the table staring directly at his daughter.

"It's clear now that Trakeena and Olympius are officially engaged. Havoc and Scorpius are pooling their resources," Rita said.

"'Havoc and Scorpius'? Why didn't you mention Bansheera?" Zedd asked.

"Word in the corridors is that Bansheera lost her minions' loyalty when she tried to kill them all or something like that. Olympius has been parading himself as the champion of the Shadow World, and Havoc is his PR monster."

Zedd looked at Thrax, "You could have gone to the Shadow Realm and temporarily absorbed strength from an undead army? Why didn't you?"

"No sane monster would. If I heard correctly, Olympius was forced to. Apparently you didn't have any star power to give me, Dad!" Thrax snarled back at his father. All Zedd ever did was complain about his lack of accomplishments.

"I took a year off of conquering the world, _let_ Divatox destroy the Turbo Rangers, all so Rita could give birth to you and nurse you. I invested in you and I expected results! You're named after my father, but you're a feeble weakling, like your other grandfather!" Zedd screamed and pointed at Vile.

Vile rose from his seat, about to fire energy blasts directly from his fingers toward Zedd when Rita screamed, louder than anyone, "Boys, shut up! You're giving me a headache!" She looked at each of the three most important men in her life. "Thrax, you'll get your chance to prove just how evil you are. Zedd, Thrax is our son and we are going to support him. I'm also only going to put up with so many insults to my father." Then she looked at Vile. "Dad, you're going to have to get used to the fact that you are mainly an advisor."

Rita sat back down and addressed the group as a whole. "Trakeena keeps herself secluded in her father's, personal trainer's, or fiancé's quarters. A love potion is out of the question, but Zedd and I can have more children and delay marriage alliances with the Insect/Demon/Pirate faction for another generation. We just need to be supportive of them now."

Rita looked to Goldar and Rito and said, "Rito, Goldar, we need you to be our eyes and ears in the cafeteria. See if you can learn from the minions if Havoc is planning on replacing Gasket with Olympius."

* * *

The smoke cleared; the electricity stopped crackling. Mesogog and Zeltrax stood in the teleportation chamber. The chamber was also filled with Tyranodrones and Triptoids, as was the larger chamber on the floor below. Zeltrax stood silently, trying to take in what had just happened to him. Mesogog, on the other hand was snarling. An instinct for self-preservation kept him from snapping at Gasket, Havoc, or Narzag. Instead the mutant dinosaur asked, "Where are we?"

"You are in the Kirat Galaxy in the year 2026. We rescued both of you from imminent destruction by the Dino Thunder Rangers."

"The last thing I remember is taking Elsa's energy to power my canon…" Mesogog mused.

"We will find a planet where you can manipulate the ecosystem and create a dinosaur super-race just like you wanted, Mesogog, but right now we have common enemies to destroy on planet Earth."

"The only enemy I care about destroying is Dr. Thomas Oliver!" Zeltrax said as he stepped off the platform. Gasket could sympathize with Zeltrax. Zeo Ranger Five had cost him his chance to become Machine King years earlier.

"Dr. Thomas Oliver is now a forty-six year old man, but I have the feeling that you'll still be getting your rematch, Zeltrax."

"And you are…?" Mesogog interrupted.

Gasket did not take offense, not from these two. They both had very specific goals, and could be placated easily. "I am Gasket, Grand Monarch of Evil, and I am planning an all-out invasion of planet Earth." He pointed to Havoc. "General Havoc is my second-in-command. Mesogog, Zeltrax, if you can command your Tyranodrones and Tryptoids for me, I will help you fulfill your goals."

Mesogog hissed and dared to ask, "And if either one of us refuses?"

"Then I will send the disagreeing party back through time and let the Dino Thunder Rangers destroy him."

"How do you know that the Rangers would win?" Mesogog hissed.

Gasket, showing no sign of annoyance, simply said, "I can connect the view screens in your quarters to the images I recorded from the original timeline." He looked Mesogog in the eyes and said, "If you still doubt me then I can't change that. I am however dedicated to using the Machine Empire's resources to helping you create your saurian super-race and settle them on a comfortable planet where no one will bother them."

Mesogog nodded and stepped down from the platform. "I will have access to all your genetic studies?"

"Of course, but for now you would best utilize them in making monsters for me."

"What about Oliver?" Zeltrax asked.

"Zeltrax, your wish is literally my command to you. Destroy him!"

* * *

Goldar and Rito were in the cafeteria following Rita's orders: verifying if there was any truth to the rumors that Havoc was moving against Gasket. Goldar saw plenty of monsters but was unsure who to ask. Fortunately, Rito noticed an old friend seated at one of the tables, eating some worms.

"Elgar!"

"Oh, hi Rito!" Goldar and Rito came and joined Elgar at the table.

"Elgar, there's a rumor that your uncle is trying to overthrow Gasket. If that's so we wanna join," Rito said.

Elgar put his hand beside his mouth and whispered, "Sorry guys, but Uncle Havoc says I'm not supposed to talk about it."

"That means that there is a rebellion," Goldar said.

"How do you figure that, Goldie?" Rito asked.

"If there wasn't one, there'd be nothing that this fool," Goldar pointed to Elgar, "Wouldn't be allowed to talk about!"

"Unless Havoc and Gasket are working on some secret project together!" Rito said, quite proud of himself for thinking of that.

Goldar slapped his gauntlet across his own head, "Rito, all conspiracy theories should be based on evidence not speculation. There are fewer assumptions involved in thinking Havoc is rebelling." Goldar looked at Elgar, "What did Havoc specifically mention for you not to talk about?"

"His plan to make his step-son Grand Monarch of Evil. I never knew he had a step-son," Elgar then looked worried. "Have I said too much?"

Rito was resting his chin on his knuckles. "He's right. Havoc doesn't have a step-son."

"Not yet," Goldar said as he got up. "He's marrying Queen Bansheera." Goldar looked at Rito, "We've got to tell Rita and Zedd immediately!" Goldar grabbed Rito by the arm and ran to Rita and Zedd's private quarters.

Goldar pressed the door chime, leading to a very angry Zedd barking, "Who is it?"

"Goldar and Rito, Sire, with very disturbing news," Goldar reported obediently. Shortly, the door opened and Zedd pulled them both in by their throats. Rita was standing at the foot of the bed.

"What is it?" Zedd asked.

"There most definitely is a rebellion to overthrow Gasket. Havoc wants to put Olympius in his place and marry Olympius's mother," Goldar said.

"And because Havoc's not really Trakeena's uncle, he can't work himself into the new royal family that way. Go find Havoc and tell him we're in!" Zedd commanded. Rita cleared her throat. Zedd looked at her.

"I give the orders and I say Zedd and I will speak to Havoc in person. You may go."

Rito and Goldar left. Zedd said to Rita, "I'm still the Evil Emperor. You're just married to me."

"Whatever Zeddy. You still need me to deal with my father and our son."

They both sat next to each other on the bed.

"We need a closer alliance with Havoc," Rita said.

"Why don't we marry off Scorpina to Havoc's nephew?" Zedd suggested and Rita smiled.


	6. Chapter 6: Gasket's Last Stand

This story is ultimately about Goldar and Scorpina's second chance at love and a life away from causing evil. This story is subdivided into three books referring to the main evil overlord at the time. This is the last chapter in Book One: Gasket.

* * *

Gasket sat on the Machine Imperial Throne with Archerina beside him. Lothor stood to the couple's left as body guard. Havoc, the second-in command, stood to the right. The great hall was full to bursting. Rita, Zedd, and their minions; Divatox, temporarily regaining her command while Havoc was on the dais; Scorpius, Deviot, Trakeena and her minions; the Demons, though they were struggling to decide if Diabolico or Olympius was in command—Bansheera was notably absent; Zurgane and Lothor's former minions; and finally Mesogog and Zeltrax all took up space.

Gasket rose from his throne and held his sword aloft, calling everyone to silence. "My loyal subjects, today is a glorious day. We are ready to marshal all our forces for a coordinated attack on New Tech City, home of Space Patrol Delta. We may find additional allies in their prisons, but conquering them is the first step in conquering planet Earth!" Gasket raised his voice as he spoke so that he screamed the last few words. The crowd cheered as Gasket raised his sword.

Then before Gasket had even lowered his hands, Havoc screamed, "Seize the day!" This statement seemed to most to be an emphasis of Gasket's last statement, but, to those who knew Havoc's plan, it meant that now was the time to fire energy blasts at Gasket. Rita, Zedd, Thrax, Goldar, Rito, Scorpina, Trakeena, and Olympius fired energy beams at Gasket through their staves and swords. Divatox, Elgar and Rygog fired their eye lasers on Gasket, while Master Vile shot energy beams from his hands, Scorpius from his tentacles and Deviot from his arm laser.

Archerina tried to fire a love arrow at Deviot, but he jumped out of the way and began firing at Archerina.

Lothor, realizing that he couldn't prevent Gasket's destruction and that he might be offered more by the new powers that be, did nothing.

Gasket's last thoughts were of the incredible pain that seared through him and of his own incompetence at not being able to see where his time machine scheme would lead. The force of all these blasts was preventing his central processing unit from commanding his body to move. He did involuntarily drop to his knees and let his sword fall to the floor. Finally, Gasket's body exploded and his head rolled down the steps leading up to the dais.

Archerina rolled out of the way of Deviot's fire and followed her husband's head. But she didn't get to it first.

Olympius put one foot down between Archerina and Gasket's head, then he plunged his staff into Gasket's head. He moved out of the way and let Trakeena deal with Gasket's wife.

Trakeena fought an opponent whose will to go on had just been broken. Several well timed blasts to Archerina's head and it exploded.

Olympius carefully looked at everyone. "Does anyone else presume to command the Champion of the Shadow World?"

Everyone was silent. Olympius proceeded, "I, Olympius, declare myself to be Grand Monarch of Evil by right of conquest."

Olympius looked at Deviot. "Deviot, step forward."

Deviot walked up to Olympius and knelt before him. Olympius touched Deviot's shoulder with his staff and said, "Your cousin tried to be Machine King and Grand Monarch of Evil. That's too much power for any one being to hold."

When Olympius said this, the crowd exploded in applause. Olympius knew he had to justify his usurpation of what had once been Dark Specter's throne.

"You fought for what was rightfully yours, and, out of what I have taken from your cousin, I restore that which is now rightfully yours. Arise, Deviot, The Machine King." Olympius removed his staff and Deviot rose to his feat. Now Olympius looked to both Deviot and Trakeena and called out, "Jinxer!"

Jinxer scampered before them. Trakeena was standing by Olympius' side; he gently grasped her hand in his.

"Yes, my Emperor?"

"Marry us."

"Certainly, Your Highness." Jinxer took a step back. "Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to join these two gargoyles in matrimony. Is there any creature present who knows why these two should not be wed?"

No one said anything.

"Do you, Olympius, Master of all Evil take Trakeena to be your bride?"

"I do."

"And do you, Trakeena, take Olympius, Master of all Evil, to be your husband?"

"I do."

"Uh, who has the ring?"

Deviot stepped forward and handed a golden ring with a jade stone to Olympius who put the ring on Trakeena's finger.

"By the powers vested in me by Emperor Olympius, I pronounce you husband and wife. Go ahead and kiss."

Trakeena hungrily opened her lips around Olympius's mouth, eager to be seen as the Empress of all Evil. Olympius, for his part, kept the kiss going, thinking of all the troops Scorpius and Divatox would now have to let him use at any time. Also they did find each other physically attractive, but that was lust. They hadn't really known each other long enough to love each other yet. When the kiss was over, the two of them ascended the dais to Gasket and Archerina's former thrones.

No sooner was he seated than Olympius was already making declarations. "As the Grand Monarch of Evil, I no longer need the title my mother's kingdom. I give my mother in marriage to General Havoc. Provided he can conquer the territory, I offer him the title 'King of Mariner Bay' and cede all my claims to the palace and Mariner Bay to the children he has with my mother." There were massive cheers in the audience especially from the demons who had been beaten by Havoc one and now wanted his strategic skill in getting their homeland back. Deviot clapped because Havoc had been essential in this coup. Rita, Zedd, and their minions clapped because they believed Havoc deserved a kingdom.

Olympius gently gripped Trakeena's hand and whispered to her, "You are not going to like this but I want to keep your mother loyal."

"I expect she'll want to see the grandchildren but that doesn't mean I have to like her."

Olympius nodded and then said, "Divatox, Dark Specter provided Scorpius with sole custody of Trakeena. Trakeena is now an adult, my wife, and your sovereign. Neither you nor Scorpius can command us, but you are both free to visit the children we will have."

Divatox looked disappointed. Scorpius, however knew that Olympius still needed him.

"Mesogog, Zeltrax, Zurgane, and Lothor, the agreements our predecessor, the late Machine Prince, made with you will still be honored. Vexicus, you will be given the planet Aquitar. With our change in leadership we need a new strategy. This meeting is adjourned."

* * *

"You want me to do _what_?!" Scorpina asked Rita indignantly in Rita and Zedd's conference room.

"It's a simple matter of consolidating alliances. Olympius might be Grand Monarch but Havoc is the one who put the coup together. We want you to marry his nephew."

Scorpina cringed at the thought. While Havoc was stately, intelligent, and refined, Elgar was crass, vulgar, and stupid.

"Elgar is so disgusting he makes Rito look charming in comparison," Scorpina said.

"Enough of this!" Zedd, who was pacing angrily, said. "Rita has given you an order, and you will obey her!"

Scorpina stood up and said, "I refuse!"

Zedd fired a beam of energy around Scorpina preventing her from teleporting. Two circles of crackling grey energy trapped Scorpina: one around her hands and one her feet. She tried to cut free with her sword, but the bands were too tight and she dropped it.

"Finster will bring you a love potion and a photo of Elgar. You will have no choice but to love him," Zedd sneered.

Years after running away from Zedd, he finally had her right where he wanted her. She realized she had only two possible allies. She never thought Rita would betray her like this.

"Rito!" She screamed at the top of her voice, followed reluctantly by "Goldar!"

"Scream all you want if you think my brother and that gold-plated Sasquatch are going to save you!" Within minutes Rito and Goldar had beaten Finster to the room. Zedd and Rita, so convinced of their victory had not bothered to call Finster yet.

"Sis, what's goin' on?"

Goldar immediately said, "Hold still!" He then delicately sliced between Scorpina's wrists and ankles, freeing her. She picked up her sword and pointed it at Rita.

"Sis…?" Rito said through grit teeth.

"We're just trying to get her to marry Havoc's nephew."

"And I have no interest in marrying that creature," Scorpina said.

Goldar looked at Zedd. "If I helped her escape from you once, what makes you think I wouldn't help her now."

Scorpina stared at Goldar. Before, he had simply let her escape without reporting it to Zedd. Now he was actively defying Zedd to his face.

"How dare you, Goldar!" Zedd fired a blast from his energy staff into Goldar's chest. Scorpina watched as Goldar collided with the wall. Rito was also watching and screamed , "Enough!"

Everyone stared at him.

"Scorpina was like a mother to Thrax, and this is the thanks she gets? To be married off to someone who's dumber than me? You owe her and don't appreciate her at all. Me an' Goldar lost our memories for you and did we ever get a 'thank you'? You treat us like dirt, Ed. And Rita, you've become just like him if you're doin' this to Scorpina. Goldar was Ed's minion and she was yours. She left Ed's employment because of what he did to you. How could you do this to her?"

Rita had always regarded Rito as someone to respect at least some of his rights as he was her brother. However, the idea that all minions had rights was so strange and alien to Rita that she was completely silent, oblivious to all around her, as she tried to make the idea make since in her mind. Zedd waxed less philosophical and was already making threats.

"I won't kill you and leave myself soldierless like that idiot Bansheera, but I will alter each of your minds so that you will obey me!"

Rito screamed, "To the Space Skull!" and he, Scorpina, and Goldar teleported out of the room at once, but not before Zedd took away Goldar's wings.

Rito may have been an idiot, but he knew how to pilot his dad's Space Skull and he laid in a course for Earth. In Goldar's quarters the simian warrior lay on his bed. He had removed his armor covering his upper body. His breathing was labored, and his panting grew more pronounced when he heard Scorpina's voice.

"Goldar?"

"What?" he rasped.

"Zedd fired a directed energy blast at your chest." Scorpina held up a vial containing bright green liquid. "You could have energy burns on your chest."

Scorpina turned on the lights and Goldar closed his eyes. She saw that there were indeed burn marks on his blue chest. She emptied some of the liquid on to her hand and rubbed it into Goldar's chest. He opened his eyes when her hand touched his chest.

He gently put his bare blue hand on top of her golden armored one.

"I chose you this time," he said softly.

"We are headed to Earth. You and Rito are the only ones I trust."

"We'll face it together." He then added after a pause, "The three of us, I mean."

Scorpina helped Goldar sit up so she could put a bandage around his chest to hold the salve in place.

Then she said quietly, "Get some rest." She was half-tempted to kiss his forehead but didn't know how he'd interpret it or how she meant it.

* * *

Olympius spent the day after his coronation and wedding pouring through Gasket's data files in the old time machine chamber. He had already known his Grand Monarchy would be severely limited. Deviot was an ally, but with the resources of the Machine Empire to call upon he could prove to be a force to be reckoned with in his own right. As much as he enjoyed Trakeena, he knew her father's suggestions would be lightly placed commands. As long as Havoc was married to his mother, the general's suggestions would be lightly placed commands. He needed the ability to inspire as much terror as his mother and still be as effective a strategist as his new stepfather. Only one monster he knew of had both the qualities. Because of the way that monster reproduced, he could consume the seeds that had been left behind when said monster had been destroyed. He could then incorporate that monster's traits into his own personality.

"Computer, scan Turtle Cove, California for seeds with Master Org's DNA. If they almost worked for Viktor Adler, they will surely work for me."

* * *

Next Chapter begins Book Two: Master Org.


	7. Book II: Master Org Ch 1 New Begininings

I still do not own Power Rangers. Book II: Master Org spans a period of about seventeen years. For right now the time is still 2026.

* * *

"There's a city of reformed monsters on Earth?" Goldar asked, standing to the left of Rito, who was sitting at the controls.

"Yeah, it was founded a few years ago by a wasp monster named Waspicable. With all the aliens that visit Earth these days, a city of reformed monsters doesn't seem too weird for the humans anymore," Rito explained.

"You've thought about this in great detail, Rito. How long have you been planning your escape?" Scorpina asked from his right side.

"I've been considering it ever since Thrax travelled back in time. I felt like he was throwing his life away for revenge when we had a great life going for us in the present. Being evil destroys peaceful, happy lives."

Goldar and Scorpina looked at each other. They were running from Rita and Zedd. They hadn't given much thought to what this meant about their alignment now. Most of the time when monsters fell out of favor with their employers it had to do with failure or trying to seize power for themselves. Changing alignment was something worse than treason.

"Rito, we can't just turn good," Goldar said.

"Why not? We just have to not destroy anyone or anything anymore?"

"What about the Power Rangers? They destroyed monsters."

"Goldie, we were trying to destroy them first. Don't you think that if we left them alone, they'd leave us alone?"

Goldar thought about what Rito said. Bulk and Skull provided them with a place to stay and, even though they did exploit them, there were times when they expressed genuine concern and even friendship. There was the contractual nature of them doing the teenager's chores in exchange for staying with them, but there were warm feelings. With Zedd, the relationship was purely contractual, with Zedd paying the occasional compliment and the frequent insult, but there was no true caring about Goldar on Zedd's part. Goldar looked to Scorpina.

"Do you want to try being good for a while, see how it works?"

"Goldar, we're evil. We can't just…"

"Act differently than Rita did when she tried to make you marry Elgar?" Rito interjected.

Scorpina was annoyed with Rito for butting into her and Goldar's conversation.

"We just have to try not to destroy anything," Goldar said pleadingly. He was still unsure about turning good himself but he was willing to give the idea a test run.

"Very well," Scorpina said, "but only to keep out of unnecessary trouble."

The Space Skull landed just outside of Turtle Hills, a small town roughly halfway between Silver Hills and Turtle Cove. Rito, Scorpina, and Goldar teleported outside.

"This the place?" Goldar asked.

"Only one way to be sure," Rito said. The trio walked into the center of town passing monsters leaving and entering what looked like human buildings.

Rito approached a Tenga and asked him the direction to immigration, which was housed in the town hall building in the middle of town. Most reformed monsters that came here had come on stolen spacecraft to escape evil overlords. The earth government was sympathetic to their needs and allowed them to register here, instead of a larger city.

The town hall building was grey with three stories, the only building in town that was that tall. On the third floor, Goldar, Scorpina, and Rito formed a line to fill out paper work with a Quantron secretary and enter a room toward the rear of the building where their photographs were taken. When they left, the Quantron immediately called SPD.

* * *

"You're sure it's them?" Dr. Thomas Oliver said on one end of the view screen.

"You'll recognize these pictures better than I will, sir." Commander Anubis "Doggie" Cruger entered a code to split the screen and show the photos up close.

"That's them alright." Tommy said. "I thought they were with Rita and Zedd when they were destroyed in the Vica Galaxy."

"Apparently they're still alive today. Since they have registered, and haven't committed any crime yet on this planet for thirty years, I can't touch them yet, and neither can you. But if they get out of line, you'll be the first person we consult, sir."

"It's not these three I'm worried about. There are scores of villains who disappeared without ever being defeated—Scorpius, Queen Bansheera, Lothor, Mesogog—if any of them are still out there we could be in serious trouble. Most of the original team are in our mid-forties now. If we thought Goldar was gone, Rita and Zedd themselves could be back for all we know."

"Stranger things have been known to happen, sir."

"Stop calling me 'sir' commander. I'm not in SPD."

"No, Tommy, but as coordinator of Ranger activities on Earth, you're not exactly a civilian either."

Tommy laughed, and said simply, "I think I'll pay our friends a visit in person."

* * *

After getting their photos taken, Goldar, Scorpina, and Rito learned from the Quantron of a house to which they'd been assigned, 847 Arsenic Lane, so they headed there. They had enough food stamps to last them while they looked for jobs. They followed the directions the Quantron gave them and found themselves outside a grey two-story house on the end of its street. The paint was peeling.

"This is the place," Goldar said.

"Looks kind of rundown," Rito said.

"Beggars can't be choosers," Scorpina said to Rito. She then turned to Goldar and said, "There are three bedrooms and three of us, so—"

Scorpina never finished the sentence as she was interrupted by a next-door neighbor who looked like a clown.

"I take it you guys are new here," Jindrax said.

Goldar, Scorpina, and Rito looked at their neighbor. He was leaning over a waist high light blue fence. The house behind him was a light blue one story. Unlike their own temporary home, the paint here seemed to be fresh.

"Name's Jindrax. I live here with my wife, Toxica."

He held out a hand and shook Rito and Goldar's. He then took Scorpina's hand and kissed the wrist.

"I thought you said you were married!" Goldar protested.

"Can't blame a monster for bein' chivalrous," Jindrax said.

Scorpina laughed inwardly. Goldar had not run away with her in the past because of his feudal loyalty to Zedd. Now he couldn't handle someone being polite to her out of chivalry.

"So, Jindrax, what line of work are you in?" Rito asked.

"I'm a tour guide in Turtle Cove. I lead tourists to the sites of the Wild Force Rangers' greatest battles, many of which I took part in."

"Why did you turn good?" Rito asked.

Jindrax became silent and looked down at the grass.

"Master Org showed me too clearly where being evil gets you. You think you have all the power in the universe, but you don't, and you drive away everyone who's ever cared about you."

"My thoughts exactly," Rito said.

Scorpina scrunched her face and shook her head, "I didn't leave my mistress because she was evil. I left her because she wanted me to marry her new master's stepcousin."

"And you'd be okay with forcing your own underlings into arranged marriages that would make them miserable?" Jindrax asked.

"I don't have any underlings," Scorpina said as she tried to put herself in Rita's position.

"But if you did?"

Scorpina really considered if the roles had been reversed, would she have been any kinder to Rita?

"I have a philosophy. I've spent years talking to human religious leaders from Orthodox Judaism and Greek Orthodox Christianity. Only an omniscient Creator, who both made you and knows everything about you, has the right to treat you that way, and He chooses not to. Who are we as limited beings to go around treating each other in such a way?" Jindrax said.

"_You_ had detailed philosophical conversations with human religious leaders?" Goldar said looking at the clown-like monster.

"I'm not as stupid as I look." Jindrax said to Goldar. He turned back to Scorpina. "Being evil, in the since that most evil overlords mean it, is having power over others that is not rightfully yours, and lying to your underlings whenever it is convenient. Sounds great unless you're one of those underlings, or the humans that they attack."

Jindrax looked at Scorpina one final time, "Just something to think about."

* * *

That night, unexpected visitors arrived in Turtle Cove. Keglar had developed a disc-shaped device to scan for the remnants of the Org Heart. Olympius, Keglar, and a search party of Stingwingers scoured the grassy area nearest the building where the Wild Force Rangers fought their last battle with Master Org. Kegler was holding the device and following its readings until it lead him to a bizarre sight—three seeds with what looked like tentacles whiplashing Keglar's hands as he tried to pick them up.

"My Emperor! I've found it!"

Olympius charged toward the seeds. Knocking Kegler out of the way he picked up the seeds, letting them beat violently against his hand.

"With these, I shall become the Master Org and have the power to crush any resistance to my rule!"

"But hasn't the child that you and Empress Trakeena are expecting consolidated your rule already, Sire?"

Olympius spun around to face Kegler. "Thrax didn't improve relations between Zedd and Vile, he made them worse. Scorpius already believes that he can control the United Alliance of Evil through me as my Father-in-law. Trakeena sees herself as my equal. Imagine how much worse it will be when Trakeena is the mother of my son or daughter and Scorpius the grandfather." Olympius spun around again. "And then there's Havoc. He wants Stingwingers, Piranhatrons, Quantrons, Chromites and Battlings to use in his assault on Mariner Bay. The only reason I've consented to let him have Scorpius and Divatox's forces in this endeavor is to keep him occupied with ruling my mother's kingdom and flaunt the title of 'king' around. He has already made me look like his pawn. Everyone knows he engineered Gasket's downfall. But with these, " Olympius showed Kegler the seeds in his hand, "I will have the power!"

Olympius put one seed into his mouth and swallowed, then the second, then the third. He immediately felt a powerful gag reflex and dropped to his knees. He kept swallowing saliva trying to keep the seeds down. He held his stomach the entire time. He completely bent over.

"Your Highness, are you alright?!" Kegler asked.

"Be quiet!" Olympius commanded.

After an hour of intense nausea the seeds dissolved in Olympius's stomach, freeing Org genetic material to travel through his bloodstream and infect every organ in his body. When Olympius stood up he felt like a new monster, and was suddenly aware of memories not his own: the first Master Org's defeat at the battle of Anamaria; Viktor Adler's defeat by the Wild Force Rangers. He may have failed twice in the past, but this time he would succeed. He extended his hand and vines sprang up and encircled Kegler and the Sting Wingers. Kegler was too concerned with the vine around his throat to notice the veins running across Olympius's forehead and right jaw.

"Master!" Kegler cried, Olympius realized that he might need Kegler alive. He released the vines' hold on his followers. He then began to laugh, but it was not the laugh of healthy young monster like Olympius. It was the laugh of an old monster rotting with sickness. Olympius could not access all of Master Org's memories but he could feel their presence waiting to awake within him, and what he could remember made his blood boil.

"The time has come to unleash the vengeance of three thousand years!"


	8. Chapter 2: Old Feelings

This story assumes there was an entire Stingwinger species, not just limited to Trakeena's ship, and that some settled on Magna Defender's home planet. I'm sorry but this chapter is heavy in Goldar/Scorpina romance. That has been a source of tension that needs to get resolved NOW!

* * *

"The Aquabase has lasers mounted to it?" Diabolico asked in disbelief.

"They have had twenty-six years to prepare since last you fought them," Havoc said, siting on what was once Bansheera's throne. He stood up and began pacing. "Fortunately, we have my Chromites' skills in engineering. " Havoc had been holding a notebook with design blueprints for new vehicles, which he now handed to Diabolico.

Diabolico stared quizzically at Havoc. Havoc sat back down and motioned for Diabolico to begin reading. The first vehicle that Diabolico saw was a giant cylinder on eight wheels that had a gigantic drill attached to it.

"I call it 'the Havoc Drill'. What your spells failed to do this device can succeed in doing. They shall be set down on the ground in the human's dimension where they will drill holes into the Earth's crust for miles. They will travel underground beneath the ocean floor and burst forth inside the Aquabase's towers."

Diabolico could see where his new master was going with this. "And each of the drills will be manned by Batlings and Chromites."

"And Piranhatrons and Stingwingers. They will force the Aquabase to rise and then plant explosives. Once they are all installed, our forces will teleport back here, and I will throw the switch that causes the Aquabase to explode. Lightspeed Rescue will be crippled forever."

"What about the other Ranger teams?" Diabolico asked.

"The main force we need to contend with is Space Patrol Delta. They are a police force and that is their greatest weakness. "

"How so?" Diabolico asked. Havoc rose from his throne once more.

"They are bound to follow intergalactic law. When the Zaralans returned to Zarala Prime after three thousand years during which their atmosphere was contaminated with radiation, the Stingwingers had to allow them to return. SPD was not established on Earth until 2005, and I was careful never to operate in their territory before. You have no record with SPD whatsoever. I have read up on Supreme Commander Fowler. He will have no trouble ruling in our favor."

Diabolico looked shocked. "You mean we will have legal recognition from the humans?"

"From SPD," Havoc corrected his general, "So long as we limit our Earth conquests to Mariner Bay, and make our future conquests outside SPD territory."

"What do we care about off-world conquests?" Diabolico said arrogantly but then remembered that Havoc was his king now and an off-worlder.

"I meant no disrespect, Sire."

"No offense was taken, General—though I might wish to take my mother's planet. Divatox should be happy being grandmother to the next Grand Monarch of Evil."

"When will the Havoc Drills be ready?"

"Porto and the Chromites were given orders to work on them while I was plotting against Gasket. Even now Porto is working on them on the moon and on my sister's space base. They should be finished in three months."

* * *

Unlike Rito, who never brushed yet was remarkably healthy otherwise, Goldar carefully brushed his fangs each morning and before bed each night. Goldar's bedroom was behind a side door on the main first floor hall. Scorpina's bedroom was behind the central door at the end of the hall. The two bedrooms shared one bathroom. Goldar approached, toothbrush and toothpaste in one hand, and opened the unlocked door. His eyes were focused straightly on the sink and mirror. It was Scorpina's yell that made him turn his eyes to the shower curtain.

"Goldar!"

"The door was unlocked! I thought you were asleep! I only came to brush my teeth!" He hurried out of the bathroom leaving his oral hygiene supplies behind him. He realized though that he would need a very cold shower to quieten those thoughts of Scorpina.

Meanwhile behind the closed bathroom door and shower, Scorpina dared to ponder her former relationship with Goldar. Ever since the day he stood up to Zedd for her, she knew that she still wanted him, and she knew that he had never stopped wanting her. She knew that he was a proud warrior from Titan. They didn't shake things like loyalty to their superiors lightly. Goldar's sense of belonging had been with Zedd, but when Zedd had threatened to alter their minds, they all knew that Zedd valued none of them. Rita did care for her family, but Zedd seemed to care for himself, Rita, and no one else, including Thrax. In his own way, he was almost as heartless as Queen Bansheera. But Scorpina did not want to think of Zedd. She wanted to think of the golden-armored warrior who stood by her side as she resisted Zedd. She wanted Goldar to know that she wanted him, needed him. Tomorrow she would tell him.

A new day dawned and Scorpina found Goldar and Rito at the kitchen counter. Rito had become friendly with Jindrax and Toxica lately. The Org couple knew the financial straits that their new neighbors were in, and Toxica let Rito take some items from her monsters' health food store with the understanding that he would pay later. Most of today's breakfast consisted of a weird type of green algae.

"Goldar," Scorpina said. Goldar and Rito looked at her. "May I speak with you, alone?"

"On my way out," Rito said leaving his algae hardly touched.

Scorpina held Goldar's full undivided attention.

"Three decades ago you chose serving Zedd over being with me. A few weeks ago, when I could have been lost to you forever, you chose me over Zedd. I have never loved another monster besides you. Do you still feel the same way toward me?"

Goldar rose to his feet.

"I tried dating a few girls, but they all had the problem of not being you."

Goldar slowly moved toward Scorpina, slowly put his arms around her, and she did the same. He gently kissed her forehead and cheeks before she grabbed his head and kissed him on the mouth.

"Even if it means staying here on Earth and becoming like that Org couple next door, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Scorpina."

"Goldar, let's get married in a scorpion monster ceremony. It's traditional among my people that when two monsters mate, they mate for life." Scorpina said between kisses.

"That's fine with me," Goldar said. "I don't want anybody else."

At that point the doorbell rang and the two lovers pulled themselves apart. When Goldar opened the door he saw his old nemesis. The human now had a goatee, his ponytail was gone, and his hair was spiked, but there was no mistaking Tommy.

Goldar gulped.

"Hello, Goldar. Welcome to Earth. Now, please tell me what you are doing on my planet?"

* * *

Tommy sat on the brown couch in the living room while Goldar and Scorpina each sat in one of the grey chairs on either side of the unlit fireplace. Rito sat on the floor in front of the fireplace.

"Now let me get this straight: Gasket used a time machine to bring back villains from the past so he could reform the United Alliance of Evil."

"Unh-huh," Rito said.

"But then General Havoc led a conspiracy to overthrow him."

"Yup."

"Trakeena is Divatox's daughter and Divatox is not really Havoc's sister or Elgar's aunt."

"That's right."

"And she's now married to Olympius, who's the new Grand Monarch. And Havoc is married to Olympius's mother."

"That's right, and all the villains that you thought disappeared are still out there. You should tell all the Ranger teams that are still active that their enemies are back. Bansheera lost most of her powers when Gasket removed Vypra's lifeforce energy from her. Havoc is probably the most dangerous and he has his sights set on Mariner Bay," Goldar said.

"And why have you defected?"

"Rita tried to force me to marry Havoc's nephew and I said 'no!'" Scorpina explained. "And I realized recently that I have been in love with Goldar for a long time."

Tommy stared at Scorpina and Goldar.

"Is it that hard to believe?" Rito asked.

"And why are _you_ here?"

"Goldar's my best friend and I'm sick of the way Ed treats everyone, including his own son."

"Ed?" Tommy asked.

"Zedd," Goldar and Scorpina said simultaneously.

"He and Rita have a son?"

"You remember that Rita and Zedd returned and we fought you and the Machine Empire at the same time?" Goldar asked.

"Yes," Tommy said.

"The reason why we gave you the next year off was because Rita was on maternity leave. Their son, Thrax, was with Master Vile and outside the Z-Wave's range. Rito and Scorpina were with him."

Tommy took one last look at the group as a whole. They'd given him answers alright, but were they truthful ones? In any event, it would be a good idea to reinforce the Aquabase, and to bring the Dino Thunder Rangers back together. Mesogog and Zeltrax were still out there.

"Thank you for your time, but if you're plotting anything…"

"We aren't!" Goldar insisted.

"I'm leaving now," Tommy said and got up.

"Wait!" Rito stood and yelled.

Tommy looked back.

"When we blew up the Command Center, me an' Goldar were left with amnesia for about half a year. During that time two humans named Bulk and Skull took care of us. Could you say 'hi' to them for us?"

"Well," Tommy said, "Even though they were never Rangers, we do consider them honorary veterans so I can and will tell them you're here. I'm already treating everything you said seriously, but, it will take Bulk and Skull to get me to trust you."

* * *

"Havoc!" Bansheera screamed as she marched down the corridors of what used to be her Skull Cavern. Batlings scurried in terror of the former queen regnant, but Bansheera paid them no mind. She entered her old throne room where her husband, who had no right at all to sit on her throne, was now seated.

"Bansheera, dearest, tell me what troubles you,"Havoc said in as condescending a voice as possible."

"Nothing troubles me, Havoc, but I have received a communication from my son that you will find disturbing. He says that he has found a power source that will make no one able to stand in his way. You, Scorpius, Trakeena, and I will have to stop ruling through him."

Havoc yawned and asked, "What is this new power source?"

"He would not say, but he has already found it. Purplish veins ran across his forehead and cheek and his voice sounded…different, older."

"Unless he can destroy an entire planet on his own, he still needs us. I'll simply have to be more careful and less demanding. I'd say Scorpius and Trakeena should be the ones more afraid. What fault can my Grand Monarch find with me when I'm reconquering his homeland for him?"

"Don't you think my son will reverse our positions? Make me the monarch and you the consort?"

Havoc through his head back and laughed for nearly and asked, "Did he also say that you would have to stop ruling through him?"

"Yes, but I'm still his mother. Making me proud still matters to him." Bansheera folded her arms.

Havoc leaned forward. "I would not deny that it does, but at this point surpassing you in evil and in genuine competence matters more. Your son is going to be fighting intergalactic campaigns. Here on Earth, it is me that the Demons of Mariner Bay will look to for leadership. Even if you get your throne back, it's me they will respect and obey. If your son has reason to distrust me, he has more reason to distrust you. I didn't abandon him in the Shadow World."

"That made him stronger!"

"But you would have been content to let him rot there forever. He is no longer your son. He is at best your overlord, at worst your enemy."

**Next Chapter: The Fall of Mariner Bay!**


	9. Chapter 3: The Fall of Mariner Bay

This Chapter takes place three months after the last. It is the last chapter in 2026.

* * *

Havoc stood behind his sister's periscope. Her spacebase, with her subcraft inside it, was once again in Earth orbit. Below on the moon, the Scorpion Stinger containing Emperor Olympius and Empress Trakeena had landed outside of Rita and Zedd's palace. On Earth, on the shore near the Aquabase, Diabolico watched as the Havoc Drills moved into position. Havoc watched through the periscope. The Havoc Drills all stopped moving a few inches behind Diabolico. The Demon general looked up at the sky and said to his master, "Sire, we are ready."

Havoc answered, "Then, by all means, begin!"

Diabolico made a fist, then, let his hand fall. The Havoc Drills tilted downward and began drilling and moving forward, boring through layers of dirt and rock leaving holes behind them as they disappeared underground. Each drill carried ten soldiers. There were forty drills in total, each equipped with an implosion device. Most of the soldiers were from Havoc's personal army of Chromites who could operate well under water, and there were many Pirahnatrons, but there were only token Batlings, who would lose strength if they came in contact with water. There was also a token presence of Stingwingers to create the illusion that Olympius still cared a little about his mother's kingdom, but just few enough to indicate that he did not really seriously care. Havoc pressed the controls on the sides of the periscope to see a map of the subterranean pathways his drills were creating as they moved toward the columns and domes of the Aquabase.

* * *

Captain Ryan Mitchell was notified in his office by a young brown-haired female cadet that the Aquabase was receiving strange seismic readings. He thanked her then proceeded to OPS. Tommy had just informed him a few months before of the return of the Demons, but Ryan had not believed that Bansheera could so easily be stripped of her powers, or that this Havoc could so easily convince the Demons to give up their magic-based tactics in favor of technology-based tactics. He ordered the Lightspeed technicians to raise a shield around the Aquabase to protect against the shockwaves of an earthquake. What the shields could not protect from was drills rising up into the Aquabase from the ocean floor.

* * *

Havoc watched on his map as the forty implosion devices became active. Diabolico interrupted Havoc's viewing.

"Majesty, the Stingwingers have returned."

"That should please Olympius," Havoc said. "What about my forces?"

Havoc dreaded this part of the enterprise. His timing had to be slow enough not to lose a significant portion of his troops and fast enough to activate all the implosion devices.

"There are five groups of Chromites, My King. Two groups of Piranhatrons . Three more groups of Chromites…" Diabolico's reports dragged on for ten agonizing minutes, with Havoc toggling back and forth between the beach and the map of the Aquabase. Havoc's well developed mental discipline allowed him to put a veil of steel over the emotions of fear and panic which he could feel in the back of his mind. So far none of the forty devices had been detected. The soldiers had been well trained in hiding them.

"Sire, all but the Batlings have retuned."

"Then their relatives shall remember them as heroes. We're only loosing ten soldiers!" Havoc picked up the detonator, pushed the button, and the Aquabase imploded.

"Return to the Skull Cavern," Havoc said to Diabolico, "It's time to celebrate!"

Havoc felt elation. He had just destroyed the building that housed some of the most powerful zords on the planet. The Battle for Mariner Bay was over. Two weeks ago SPD's Supreme Commander Fowler had ruled that, in order to be consistent with their ruling on the Zaralans, they would have to recognize the Demon's claim to Mariner Bay. He had called for Lightspeed Rescue to shut down and was ignored. In a way Havoc had SPD and the memory of the original Magna Defender to thank for his political victory. His military victory he owed entirely to his own military genius. Now he deserved to celebrate by rubbing it in the face of his sister and his wife.

Havoc stepped back and offered the periscope to Divatox.

"Now _I've_ destroyed a bigger command center, more zords than you have, and I spent three months organizing the whole affair. You destroyed only two Megazords, and you stumbled onto the Power Chamber. I think everyone will agree after today that I'm the better evil leader."

"I never had to get SPD to make anything I did legal!" Divatox said.

"I needed to because I'm creating a kingdom. You were just a pirate interested in wealth. I want power and I will take it by any means I can get it, short of losing my life. An agreement that will spare fighting and let me keep most of my troops in reserve to govern my kingdom looks good to me. The one this agreement looks bad on is Fowler."

"Ooh, so you've made the top cop look bad." Divatox said trying to find a way to diminish Havoc's accomplishment.

"I've hurt SPD in the human public's eyes. Because they had to rule in favor of the Magna Defender's people returning home, they had to rule in our favor or anger the Stingwingers who'd relocated to planets they protect. Imagine though, to a human, how different the following statements must look, 'We recognize the right of aliens who, as a rule, are warriors committed to justice to return to their home planet, and we also recognize the right of an evil queen who wants to destroy you to return to your city."

"You really think the humans will let you keep your new enclave?"

"That's what my Chromites, Batlings, and Metallosaurus are for. Now, if you do not mind, Olympius is expecting to see all of us in the Skull Cavern."

* * *

"After five thousand years Mariner Bay is ours again," Olympius rasped. Most of the monsters in the room had never seen him with bulging veins on his face or heard him speak in such a sickly voice.

"My Emperor! What has happened to you? You don't look or sound well," Jinxer worried over the monster who'd once been an infant in his care.

"I have never felt better," Olympius said and suddenly vines sprouted from the column walls and wrapped themselves around Jinxer, lifting him off his feet. "Nor have I ever been stronger."

He turned his gaze to Diabolico, "I have something stronger than star power." Vines grabbed Diabolico.

Next he turned to the queen. "Far stronger than you ever were, Bansheera!" She did not have much time reflect on how much it hurt her that he did not call her "mother," because soon she was being held by vines upside.

"Far more ruthless than you could ever hope to be. You have disappointed me greatly. Perhaps I should destroy you." The vines started to choke her.

"No! My son!"

"I am not your son! I'm your master!" _The Master Org!_

"Please", Bansheera struggled to say.

"On my terms!" Olympius shouted at her. He struck the ground with the bottom of his staff and the vines holding Bansheera, Diabolico, and Jinxer disappeared. The three Demons fell to the floor.

"From this moment forth Bansheera, Diabolico, Vypra, Loki, and Jinxer must kneel whenever they are in my presence." There was no doubt as to who the most powerful monster in the room was.

Zedd looked at the prostrate demons and whispered to Rita, "If only I could do that to your father."

"Havoc!" Olympius bellowed. The King of Mariner Bay approached the Grand Monarch of Evil, facing downward. Havoc knew how to swallow his pride and be submissive when he thought that he had to, as when he thought Divatox was his rightful queen. The veins and vines were clues enough to Havoc of who he was eventually going to have to deal with and of where Olympius's new powers came from.

Havoc knelt before Olympius. "You have proven yourself to be truly competent, worth keeping alive, and entrusting with greater responsibilities. I give you Mariner Bay and the lives of these worthless Demons."

"Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty, and I accept, but you are the true victor here today."

_Viktor Adler is not my name!_

"Remember that, General." Olympius said.

Havoc looked at Olympius's own home faction. Trakeena kept her eyes on her husband with absolute terror, not for herself but for the bulge in her abdomen. Her genetics meant she could either give live birth like Divatox or lay eggs like females of Scorpius's species did. She may not know Master Org but she knew Olympius was not himself. Havoc looked at miniature column where Jinxer had told him baby Impus once lay. Scorpius sat there now, the platform just strong enough to support his weight despite appearances. Judging by the look in Scorpius's eyes he _was_ in terror for himself because of his son-in-law's new powers. Trakeena may be a match for Olympius in hand to hand combat if she were not pregnant, but, pregnant or not, she was no match for Master Org.

"We shall leave you to your mindless celebrating. Let's go, Trakeena."

Trakeena began her marriage as Olympius's equal, but now fear for her father and baby kept her in terror. Olympius, Trakeena, and Scorpius teleported away.

"All right, everyone," Havoc said, including Rita, Zedd and Divatox, before specifically telling the Demons, "Get up!"

All eyes were fixed on Havoc. "My stepson has just done something in his quest for absolute power that even I would never do. He has consumed the seeds of the Org Heart."

"What's the Org Heart?" Rita asked.

Havoc began pacing, not out of nervousness, but so he could look each member of his audience in the eye. "Three thousand years ago—while Rita was in the dumpster, Zedd in another galaxy, Bansheera's spirit banished, and the Demons imprisoned—a new life form appeared on Earth. Many details are contradictory, as the Orgs claim to be born out of pollution, but Earth at that time was much cleaner that it is today. The Master Org destroyed the continent of Animaria, before he was weakened by an Animus, a creature who was a living Megazord with tremendous power. Then a human named Merrick Baliton used the Predazord to finish him off. However cells from his body took the form of seeds and were consumed by a human scientist named Viktor Adler. He gained many of Master Org's powers, and after he was injured to the point of brain death, the original Master Org took over. He was ultimately destroyed by the Wildforce Rangers in 2002, but that was due only to the Wild Zords' ability to reform. He destroyed more zords than any other villain in history, including Dark Specter."

"And now my son has this power?" Bansheera asked.

"Weren't you listening?" Havoc yelled. "Your son's personality is only the surface layer of the being we just saw. Beneath that are Viktor Adler's memories, and at his core is the original Master Org."

"You're not telling us why we should be afraid, Havoc," Zedd said.

"Because he is more manipulative than Bansheera, just as eager to sacrifice his own followers, and, since he is a one monster army, can do so with little to no cost to himself. Add that to the behavior you just saw. I have downloaded the files on Master Org from Gasket's computer. If you want, I can print them out for each of you. Ask yourselves why Gasket brought Bansheera back, but not him?"

Rita and Zedd looked at each other giving serious weight to what Havoc had said.

Divatox with a numb look betraying her fear asked, "My daughter and grandchild?"

"They should be fine as long as Olympius remains the dominant personality. But he will one day be able to call defeated Orgs to him. They will make sure that the real Master Org is in charge, and when that day comes, none of us will be safe."

**My knowledge of the series after SPD is extremely limited, but two villains stand out to me as the most evil based only on the show—others will get just as evil in this fanfic (cough Havoc cough). These are Bansheera and Master Org. Zedd could have gone that way, but Rita mellowed him somewhat. The way they treated their own henchmen is horrible. I'm a Christian and I believe that only God has the right to treat people like that, but, because He loves us, He chooses not to. (Consider the monsters in this story to have human like minds and their leaders to be the Hitlers, Maos, Stalins, and Pol Pots of their world. These characters are satanlike tyrants who think they're omnipotent but must ultimately fall. The other parts of my story are redemption (Goldar/Scorpina/Rito) and how selfish ambition can drive away those closest to you (Zedd/Thrax) (Mondo/Gasket/Deviot) (Mama D/Havoc) (Bansheera/ Olympius). I think my next chapter is going to be a major time skip. We are roughly halfway through the story give or take some chapters.**


	10. Chapter 4: I See Fire

This chapter is approximately twelve years after the previous chapter. Just so everyone is not confused, Trakeena the Elder is the character we know from the series. Trakeena the Younger is her daughter with Olympius. I'm naming this chapter "I See Fire" after Ed Sheeran's song during the credits of _The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug_, because Master Org completely takes over Olympius here, and with access to the Machine Empire's weapons and a mandate to spread pollution we are entering a dark period of the story.

* * *

Villamax demonstrated the proper fighting stance while Trakeena the Younger mimicked them. The young humanoid monster had the appearance of a twelve-year-old human girl with a red insectoid exoskeleton. Like her mother, strands of hair grew beneath her red head armor. Unlike her mother, this Trakeena had blonde hair. She also had white horns instead of antennae. On her back were small mothlike wings that would grow large once she entered the cocoon. If_ she enters the cocoon,_ her mother thought. Trakeena the Elder who had once ran away from her father to keep her mortal beauty rather than enter the cocoon, now yearned for its power so that she could match her Org husband.

She had only known Olympius for a few days prior to their marriage. It had never been a question of love but of political expediency. She brought the loyalty of her parents' forces, while the "Champion of the Shadow World" brought his own celebrity and the regality of his mother's bloodline. She did find him physically attractive back then, the signs were there if she'd not let the thought of the Grand Monarchy of Evil blind her as it did her father and Havoc. Olympius had been abandoned by Bansheera in the Shadow World and, no matter what victories he'd won, he'd always feel insecure about his power. He acted tough, but she could read through him and see how insecure and hurt he really was. She thought she could manipulate that to her advantage, just as her father and Havoc thought they could manipulate his youth. After all, Olympius had seen what had happened to Gasket when he tried to wield absolute power. He had learned a lesson, but not the one that the three of them were hoping he'd learn. He'd learned that he needed more power than Gasket or his mother. For the few weeks between his elevation to the Grand Monarchy and his bringing the Scorpion Stinger to Earth, he'd finally seemed confident, relaxed. Trakeena now knew that this was the time her husband had learned about the Org seeds. Since the day he first gained Org powers he looked unhealthy, displayed only anger, mocking, and indifference. Org Olympius had not once made love to his wife. He used the vines on the Scorpion Stinger's entire crew from time to time, including Trakeena and Scorpius. So far he'd never attacked their daughter, Trakeena, but he never smiled around her, and always said she was weak because she was not Org. Trakeena the Elder warned her father and Villamax and Kegler never to remind Olympius that he was not really an Org either.

"I could escape with her you know. Go to your mother,"Lothor said sticking his head out from an alcove. Trakeena sighed. Lothor was the Imperial Couple's official jester which meant Trakeena's half-Org husband amused himself to no end by finding new ways to torture Lothor and make him beg for his life. Lothor, who had once commanded an army of evil space ninjas, had for the last twelve years been Olympius's personal punching bag. The Org-Demon would string him up on the vines every night and make him regale Trakeena's crew with stories of how he made idiotic decisions about fighting the Wind and Thunder Ninja Rangers against the advice of his wise general Zurgane. Trakeena knew that he'd held the position of jester under Gasket, so he must be pretty incompetent. What she wondered was how much of his stories were exaggerations to entertain Master Org.

"You and Divatox are the last people I'd trust to keep my daughter safe."

A loud thud brought Trakeena and Lothor's conversation to an end. Master Org banged his staff on the ground.

"We have just entered Earth orbit. It took Viktor Adler nearly twenty years to call the Orgs back to him. I have done it in just twelve. I'm going to enter the Org Nexus. Keep the ship in orbit."

* * *

Olympius had never seen the Nexus before, but Viktor Adler and Master Org had, and it was their memories Olympius was relying on. The Nexus was a series of collapsed rooms, but Master Org found what he was looking for in the main chamber. Under the debris of the fallen roof plating and smashed statues, he found what he was looking for: three crystals; one pink, one green, one blue. The Org DNA in Olympius's body told him exactly what he need to do and gave him the power to do it. When he was finished he called out, "Retinax, Nayzor, Mandilok!"

The Org generals materialized and stood in front of him.

"Welcome back. Although I'm in a different body, I contain all the memories of Master Org."

"Oh, no!" Mandilok's lower mouth said in disgust then its upper mouth began speaking. "I know how this works from last time. You are some lesser life form who contains Master Org's essence within you. I threw the human over a cliff. When he came back he _was_ Master Org and he destroyed me. This time I'm going to be a loyal servant, _after_ I cause you brain death and wake up the real Master Org up!"

Retinax and Nayzor were of a similar mind to Mandilok. All three fired energy at Olympius who dropped his staff. He fell but fired his fire elemental energy back at them. He hit Nayzor who stumbled backward, but Mandilok threw its giant fork pinning Olympius's staff to the ground. Olympius then realized that he had been thinking too much like Olympius, he needed to be thinking last Master Org and use the vines. But the instant Olympius made that decision, Retinax's ax lodged in his neck. Olympius soon found that he could not breath, could not call on any of his powers. He fought to stay awake to use the vines on these Orgs, to prove that he, Olympius, Grand Monarch of Evil, was the ultimate power in the universe. But that wouldn't happen now. He could hear Master Org's core personality speaking to him, "You were only ever my vessel, Olympius. My true reign is about to begin."

Demons, unlike Orgs, had a circulatory system and Olympius bled out.

"Keep watch over him," Mandilok ordered with its lower mouth. The Org DNA was now a part of Olympius's organs, so his bleeding out did nothing to change that. When Olympius entered brain death his body began to change form. The Org Generals had never seen it before, but Master Org would recognize it from Olympius's memories: the video of the alternate past that Havoc and Gasket had shown him—his dragon form. There were two important differences: this dragon had a single Org horn on his head and he breathed fire that was laced with radiation.

Master Org opened his eyes. He raised himself up from the ground. While he had been claiming Olympius's body, Nayzor had been search through the rubble to find the staff that had once belonged to Viktor Adler. He handed it to Master Org. Master Org laughed deep in his throat.

"Now it is not a world we must pollute; it is a universe!" Master Org fired Viktor's old staff at Olympius's and destroyed it, laughing wildly.

* * *

"Trakeena and her crew disembarked the Scorpion Stinger and left it to Master Org," Havoc said.

Tommy was having to speak on a view screen with both Supreme Commander Kruger and King Havoc.

"And why should we trust you, Havoc? You destroyed the Aquabase, build a giant palace in the middle of Mariner Bay, killed hundreds of people including the Titanium Ranger—"

"All of which were regrettable but necessary steps in securing my people's homeland. On Zarala Prime…"

"Don't start with that! That was completely different!"

"No, it wasn't. The Magna Defender's people wanted their homeworld back and had to use force against the Stingwingers to get it. I did the same in acquiring Mariner Bay. I have not taken one square mile more than was legally mine. I've even given the humans who had to be evicted employment."

"How thoughtful," Tommy said.

Eying Cruger's growing impatience, Havoc said, "The issue here is Master Org! If he were not back the Animarium would still be hidden. Speak with Princess Shayla about this. Just remember, this Master Org has seen the Machine Empire. He can use its massive technologies to create pollutants lethal to all forms of life. I can bring my forces, Rita and Zedd's, Divatox's, Trakeena's, Zurgane's, and Vexacus's all to our side. Mesogog may be more interested in engineering life forms to survive in the new universe, so I can't predict where his loyalties will fall. Zeltrax will certainly want you dead and will undoubtedly be on Master Org's side. Deviot is a coward and is likely doing Master Org's biding as we speak."

* * *

Tommy would communicate with the other ranger teams at once. He would also get the Wild Force Rangers to contact Princess Shayla. He would also see if the reformed monsters would fight.

Tommy drove to Goldar and Scorpina's house. They had bought the property several years ago and lived there with Rito and their children. They had an ironic sense of naming them. They had an entire wealth of two alien cultures, they settled on the names of two of their former human enemies: Jason and Trini. The monster Jason looked like a twelve-year-old Goldar except with a scorpion tail. The ten-year-old monster with Trini's name looked much like Scorpina in her humanoid form only as a young girl.

As Tommy was about to pull up to the street Goldar and Scorpina lived on, some kind of energy blast destroyed Tommy front right tire sending him spinning out of control. When he finally got the car to stop moving, he destroyed the fence in Goldar and Scorpina's neighbors' front yard. When he got out of the car, he saw Zeltrax jump down from a building on the other side of the street.

"Well, well, Dr. Oliver. It's been a long time."

Tommy took a fighting position but knew at once how difficult this fight would be. As fit as he was, Tommy was a fifty-nine-year-old man, with no morpher on hand. Zeltrax as a cyborg, was stronger, and as a time-traveler was younger. Zeltrax slashed his sword wildly several times with Tommy moving further and further away. Finally, Zeltrax held his sword and shield far apart giving Tommy a clear shot at his body. Tommy leapt toward Zeltrax with his foot aimed at Zeltrax's chest, but Zeltrax caught Tommy's leg between his arms, and Tommy fell flat on the pavement, pain washing over his back. He tried to kick Zeltrax's knee with his free foot, but Zeltrax moved his leg out of the way. Zeltrax moved quickly to grab hold Tommy's feet between Zeltrax's elbows and sides. Zeltrax moved closer, to stab Tommy when Goldar jumped onto him.

Goldar had only seen Zeltrax and heard his name a few times at Gasket's base. None of that connected with Goldar now as he pounded and blasted this invader senseless, He brought his own sword crashing through this stranger's helmet. Goldar looked at Tommy and asked, "Who was that?"

"That was Zeltrax and he was probably sent here by Master Org," Tommy said as he got back to his feet. "Goldar, for the first time in history, there's a lunatic whose a threat to all life in the universe, human and monster."

"I thought Master Org was dead," Goldar said.

"Olympius ate the seeds of the Org Heart. Master Org is controlling his body. He will most likely take control of the Machine Empire and use their technology to spread pollution throughout the universe. I'm equally worried that General Havoc could use the threat of Master Org to unite all monsters under his command. I'm coordinating all active Ranger teams on Earth. Supreme Commander Cruger is handling SPD. We need someone in the monster camp."


	11. Chapter 5: Reunion

This is the second-to-last chapter in Book II.

Trivia: At various times Goldar, Rito, Elgar, and Jindrax all had the same suit actor, Danny Wayne Stallcup. He was also Jindrax's voice actor.

* * *

Scorpina looked out the window as the car containing Farkas Bulkmeier and their children drove away.

"Are you sure we can trust him with our children?"

"He and his friend Skull took me and Rito in. And once he raised Skull's son for about two years. Our kids are in good hands."

"If Master Org is not stopped none of us will be safe," Toxica said. "You said that your leaders are pure evil? The Power Rangers need us as spies inside their camp. We must find out what they are planning to do with this United Army of Evil."

Goldar sat next to Rito on the couch, "There will most likely be a power grab by Havoc when this is all over, assuming we win. He is the Supreme Commander of all our forces, good and evil against Master Org. Havoc got that position because he knows more about Orgs than Tommy or SPD's Supreme Commander Cruger. I still think it was Havoc and not Master Org who sent Zeltrax to attack Tommy and get a rival out of the way."

Jindrax, crouched next to the TV, sounded angry. "Toxica and me know more about Orgs than King Havoc. We _are_ Orgs!"

"But you're not military commanders. He's only been King Havoc for the last twelve years. He was General Havoc for millennia before that. We've got to get Lord Zedd to notice what Havoc is doing, keep the evil forces divided after this battle," Goldar said.

Rito stared off into the distance. It had been twelve years since he had last seen his sister, his father, or his nephew. Would they be angry with him? Would his father, who was very old for a monster, still be alive?

"I guess now's the time to find out how Ed will take what we have to say to him."

They all teleported to Rita and Zedd's palace on the moon, materializing in the hallway leading to Zedd's Chamber of Command. They could hear Zedd ranting. Goldar felt a chill in his stomach. The last time he had seen his master, Zedd had threatened to take control of his and Scorpina's minds. Despite years of loyal service, Goldar was nothing more to Zedd than a tool. How would Zedd react now that he and Scorpina were returning? Would Rito's blood relation to Rita make her more merciful to him or make her take his betrayal even worse?

"That brat Olympius should have been satisfied with being the Grand Monarch of Evil. We finally had a system where everyone's ambitions could be satisfied, but no! He had to eat the Org seeds and unleash a force that cares nothing about ruling the universe, only destroying it," Zedd ranted.

"I think it all had to do with his unresolved issues with Bansheera. He wanted to be more powerful than she ever was and more evil."

"Rita, I know when you're trying to give me coded signals. I think you're making your point too strongly. I've never abandoned Thrax in the Shadow World. Besides I want Thrax to become more powerful and evil than I am. What disturbs me is his devotion to your father. I thought when the old coot died, he'd finally listen to some fatherly advice—"

"Dad!" Rito said aloud. The cold feeling in Goldar's gut exploded into tremors across his entire body.

Rito walked forward into the open.

"You dare to return, traitor?" Zedd rose from his throne and aimed his staff at Rito.

"Oh, for crying out loud, Zedd! Rito is family."

Rito turned his gaze to his sister. Rita was not exactly glad to see him, but she didn't want to vaporize him just yet either.

"So you've finally decided that monkey-boy and his scorpion girlfriend were less important than family."

"They were never more important than family, but they didn't see each other as soulless tools. Now what has happened to my father?"

Rita looked into Rito's eyes with a mixture of anger and grieving. "It was his esophagus… Years of creating monsters like the Blue Globber took their toll on him and a hole in his esophagus kept him from eating, Finster prepared IVs for him and that kept him alive for a few weeks. He died cursing everyone except Thrax."

"When did this happen?" Rito asked.

"A year ago next Tuesday." Rita said.

"I thought I'd get my son back," Zedd said.

Rito felt tears well up. "Did he think I betrayed him?"

"Weren't you listening!" Zedd snapped. "He cursed everyone but Thrax!"

"What brings you here, Rito? Did you just now start to miss us?" Rita said mocking him.

"I always missed you. We came now to warn you about General Havoc!"

"We?" Rita asked, and Goldar knew it could be delayed no longer. Goldar stepped into the Chamber of Command followed by Scorpina, Toxica and Jindrax.

"So, the traitors return!" Zedd said. "Who are your new friends?"

"Jindrax, Duke of Orgs, Master of Blades, at your service." Jindrax drew multiple knives in one hand and bowed.

"Toxica, Duchess of Orgs, Mistress of Magic."

"There's only one Mistress of Magic around here, sister," Rita said.

"General Havoc is trying to use the situation with Master Org to take supreme command of all forces opposed to him in the universe!" Goldar said.

"As well he should, he's the forces of evil's greatest strategic commander," Zedd said.

"But he will try to take Trakeena's place as Grand Monarch when all this Master Org nonsense is over!" Goldar pleaded.

"Why should I care if…" Zedd stopped talking and processed what Goldar had just said. "Trakeena's daughter is the granddaughter of Scorpius, Divatox, and Queen Bansheera, and she'll be an adult in only five years. If she married our Thrax, then we'd have the strongest claim on the Grand Monarchy!" Zedd felt electricity crackling between his fingers.

"We just have to pretend to follow Havoc until then," Rita finished Zedd's train of thought for him.

"We are brilliant, my little prickly pear." Zedd embraced Rita.

"Now that you know, consider us gone!" Goldar said.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Zedd told Goldar. "The forces of good and evil in the universe are aligning to take down Master Org and his minion, the Machine King Deviot. We all know that good and evil cannot mix. This alliance will crumble the moment Master Org is gone. You were probably sent here by the Power Rangers to undermine our loyalty to King Havoc. You succeeded, but we will betray Havoc in our own time and in our own way, and no one on Earth will know a thing about it until it's too late. I'm sending you to my dark dimension until I know what to do with you." Zedd fired white energy from his staff and Goldar, Scorpina, Rito, Toxica, and Jindrax disappeared.

Rita walked toward the Repulsascope and looked through it at the community of reformed monsters. The sight made her sick.

"I'd love to take an army down there and smash Turtle Hills like a mashed potato."

"I'd rather hold them hostage; the town's safety as the price of Goldar and his friends' silence. We can always say they were housing Orgs."

"Won't Havoc get suspicious?"

Zedd stroked his chin. "We need not even actually plan to destroy the town. Merely tell Goldar that that is our plan." Zedd sat back down.

"Why don't you just take control of their minds?"

"Would you let me take over Rito's?"

"Of course not."

"Then we will stick to threats and intimidations. I intend to have them work for us again, and the idea that they would get word to Havoc about our plans to usurp him is unlikely, at first."

Rita followed Zedd's logic. "The Ranger's would want our plans secret until we could pose enough of a threat to Havoc that he'd know anyway."

"But that won't be the way it happens. We will get Divatox, Scorpius, and Havoc's long suffering wife on our side and paint Trakeena as a victim. We'll make sure that the universe sees Havoc as the usurper."

* * *

On the Machine asteroid base in the Kirat Galaxy, Master Org waited for Deviot to enter his chamber. When the Machine King did so, he asked, "Do you have it?"

Deviot produced a small orb for Master Org.

"A mixture of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen" Deviot said. "But I wonder, Sir, how can you vitalize it without the Princess's necklace?"

"Your nuclear reactors should provide all the energy I need. Come." Master Org took the orb in his hand and left through the door that Deviot just entered. He walked down the stairs rather than take the elevator. He loved to hear the sounds of liquids bubbling and machines releasing steam because he knew that if this were an inhabited world the things going on here would kill all non-Org life.

"Your Majesty, wouldn't it be faster to simply take the elevator?"

Master Org looked at Deviot and said, "You are a machine. You can only see and hear, but I feel all my senses exhilarated by the quality of pollution produced here. I want to make the entire universe like this asteroid."

When they reached the reactor Master Org looked at the massive yellow sphere and placed his empty hand on it.

"This fusion reactor would have the power to destroy or irradiate all human life in a fifty mile radius."

"If it did that, we wouldn't have the energy to maintain this base."

"You discovered the technology to split the atom once. You can do it again. Right now there is a third use for this reactor." Master Org tightened his grip around the orb and began transferring energy from the reactor through his body and into the orb. Slowly the orb began to glow. Then suddenly it stopped glowing only to resume glowing a second later and repeated stop and begin again until a pulsing rhythm was established. Then orb itself moved as if it were organic.

_It _is_ organic_, Deviot reminded himself.

"Org Heart, beat once more!"

As the Org Heart beat in his hand, Master Org said, "Deviot, consult with Mandilok."

With this command Deviot ran and took the elevator.

Master Org opened his mouth and swallowed the Org Heart whole. He felt nausea upon swallowing it but bit those feelings back until he entered a sensation of complete relaxation. Slowly, his current body, which was nothing more than a toxin resistant modification of Olympius's dragon form, began to turn to dust and crumble away. But the beating Org Heart secreted fluid into the dust which changed it into a paste. The paste enveloped the heart and began to solidify into a new form. A new dragon stood where the old had been. Where Olympius's scales were red, his were white. Where Olympius had gold plating, he had purple. He still contained Olympius's memories, as well as Viktor Adler's, but he was Master Org. He laughed maniacally at having a pure Org form once again. He also felt power like never before. He could feel the different types of gama and theta and a hundred other kinds of radiation that his breath could cause third-degree burns from over sixty miles away. The age of Humanity was over. The day of the Org had come.


	12. Chapter 6: Havoc vs Master Org

This is the last chapter of Book Two: Master Org. This story is entering its final third.

Havoc had had twelve years to prepare for the coming battle with Master Org. Most crucially he had provided him with a false friend, The Machine King, Deviot. Deviot may have given Master Org a thermonuclear-powered Org Heart, but for the last twelve years he had been working closely with Havoc, SPD, and the Rangers to build a new, more powerful version of Serpentera. It was powered by an artificial quantum singularity. It may move slower than Zedd's Serpentera, but it would not have the energy problems that plagued it either. Its slower speed was a blessing. The Rangers with Zords capable of space flight, and the SPD ships would all reach the Kirat Galaxy before Havoc, where Master Org would eliminate them. Havoc wanted the Rangers and SPD weakened so that the universe would depend on him and his new Zord for protection. Considering that he had murdered Trakeena the Elder, Scorpius, and Villamax, no one would be able to prove otherwise when he announced that Trakeena had abdicated from the Grand Monarchy of Evil, and no one could deny the document naming Havoc as her successor was in her handwriting. He had convinced Diabolico that murdering them was of political necessity but that they would spare Trakeena's daughter who had done nothing to harm them and was only an innocent child. Diabolico bought that load of tripe but Bansheera knew better. Havoc was keeping Trakeena the Younger alive for the same reason that he'd fathered three children with Vypra. He had in Trakeena the Younger someone with Scorpius and Bansheera's blood. He wanted her to marry someone with his blood.

That Havoc was capable of such cold-blooded murder shocked many of the Demons but not Bansheera. He had told her of how his brother had forcibly married and then forced himself on a teenage princess from a planet where Divatox was pirating. The princess was small for her age, died in delivery and gave birth to Elgar. Havoc's family was saddled with that moron because his brother couldn't control himself. Mama D and Divatox wanted something done, but they did not know what to do. So Havoc secretly slit his brother's throat, and the Piranhatrons found him in a bloody pool the next day. Elgar could at least be used for grunt work. Havoc's brother was a reckless incompetent who'd cost their family reputation badly. One day Havoc would have to decide on one of his own sons to marry Trakeena the Younger. The other son would have to be killed. He planned to engage his daughter to Thrax.

By eliminating Trakeena's faction, but keeping her Stingwingers to augment his own Batlings and Chromites in Mariner Bay, Havoc had taken the first steps to secure the rise of his own dynasty. He hated the way Mama D went on and on about the Trakeenas who she was not even related to. Like it or not, her own son would be Monarch of All Evil.

"How far ahead is the rest of the fleet?"

"At our current speed, it will take thirty minutes to reach them," Diabolico told his master.

"Excellent. Maintain our relative distance. I want Master Org to think that he has already won when he first sees us."

* * *

Master Org had the ability to grow to the same size as Dark Specter. He recognized the Wild Zords but all of the Zords that had gathered there would meet their end now. He opened his mouth and shot out a fireball which connected with the Wild Force Megazord. The fireball then exploded with the force of a fifty megaton hydrogen bomb. The fireball itself was highly radioactive, and the debris left behind from the blast would be too contaminated to be retrieved by anyone but special recovery ships. There were Zords and ships that moved out of the blast range, but Master Org quickly spat fire balls in their various locations. Every fireball that hit something caused a thermonuclear explosion. Those fireballs that did not touch a Zord or ship dissipated leaving pockets of radiation behind. The Zords were all gone, and the ships that survived were on a course back to Earth as fast as they could go. This battle was over.

Master Org stood proudly in the midst of the Zord graveyard. He could remember a time in Viktor Adler's life when humans had nearly destroyed their own world with the power he now possessed. Adler had been born in the Soviet Union in 1948. He grew up knowing the conflict between his country and the United States could destroy all life. He had also seen the environment in so much of his country spoiled by industrial pollution. The old fairy tale of Animaria held great hope for the Soviet ecologist, enough that he been willing to risk the wrath of the KGB to work on a project about Animaria with American scientists. What followed only confirmed for Master Org what a fool Viktor really was. How could he have so seriously believed that Elizabeth shared his romantic feelings? Still Master Org was grateful for Adler's petty jealously, as he was grateful for Olympius's quest to be both more powerful and more evil than his mother. The foolish desires of these two beings had led to this day. Now Master Org had more power than ever and could cause the exact kind of pollution that had that Viktor most feared. Master Org loved the perverse irony and forced the section of his mind that was still Viktor to dwell on the irony. He also forced Olympius to dwell on the fact that he'd always been a pawn, of his mother, wife, father-in-law, and stepfather. They had never feared Olympius, and Master Org made sure Olympius knew that. There was a planet nearby, but Master Org was eager to begin his rule on Earth.

* * *

Master Org registered on Serpentera's sensors.

"Sir, we are approaching Master Org," Diabolico said.

"Engage cloak," Havoc commanded. The pool of minds that went into building this Serpentera ensured that it would have all the security measures needed to survive an encounter with Master Org. The Zords that had gone ahead had been mostly too old to be compatible with cloaking technology. The Wild Zords, being living creatures, were incompatible with cloaking technology regardless of their age. Serpentera's sensors could not detect them, but Havoc knew that some of the newer Zords had been specifically made with cloaking technology for this battle. It would not surprise him if the Mystic Force Rangers knew some cloaking spells, but, as Havoc could not contact them, they were irrelevant.

"Cloak engaged, Sir."

"Send out this message to all Zords still operational: Stay in front of Master Org!" It would actually be better for Havoc in the long term if the Zords were destroyed, but for now he needed to keep forces to distract Master Org. The cloaked Zords sent messages back that they had not been destroyed and were following Havoc's orders.

Serpentera was approaching Master Org, who was flying toward Earth at a leisurely pace.

"I can see you, Org," Havoc said quietly. "Can you see me?" Then, addressing Diabolico, Havoc said, "Take us above and behind him."

The cloaked Serpentera moved out of Master Org's path and then behind him and above him so that a diagonal beam could be fired from Serpentera's mouth, through Master Org's spinal column and into his heart.

"Diabolico, lock on to the Org Heart."

Diabolico entered the commands into the targeting computer.

Serpentera fired a massive laser beam into Master Org's back. The power of the beam could disintegrate any object standing in its way. Master Org felt excruciating pain in his back and stopped his flight.

"Keep firing and tell the cloaked Zords to fire from the other side!" Havoc stood from his command chair and shouted his order to Diabolico. Now was the most crucial moment of the battle. If Master Org looked backward and fired a thermonuclear blast at Serpentera, the battle would be over. If the cloaked Zords attacked from the front Master Orgs attention, he would be confused and uncertain where to vent his thermonuclear fury.

Master Org started to look back to where this pain in his back was coming from, but then one of the cloaked Zords fired an energy beam into his left eye. He spit thermonuclear fireballs in all directions, but by then it was too late.

"Diabolico! Take evasive action but keep our beam locked on the Org Heart!" Havoc shouted quickly.

Diabolico achieved the desired effect by lowering Serpentera so that it was level with the Org Heart. By then the laser broke the Org Heart, starting a thermonuclear chain reaction.

"Get us out of here immediately and tell the Rangers to flee for their lives!" Havoc actually hoped the blast would destroy most of the Zords, but if any survived, he wanted to say he warned them.

Outside of a planet's atmosphere a nuclear explosion does not create a mushroom cloud, merely a sphere of radioactive heat and light. Diabolico piloted Serpentera to a safe distance where he and his king could watch the fireworks. The third Org Heart broke apart, causing the blast which in turn destroyed Master Org's third body. Master Org's reign was over. His generals; Retinax, Nayzor, and Mandilok still had to be taken care of, but Havoc knew where to find them. Highly radioactive Org seeds would no doubt form, but they would kill anyone who ate them before they mutated their DNA…unless a Stingwinger or one of Mesogog's radiation resistant mutants ate them. Those were battles that Havoc would fight from Earth. After all he had to announce to the universal public that his stepdaughter-in-law was retiring from public life. Twelve years of being married to Master Org had taken their toll on poor Trakeena.

The surviving forces of good would feel safe with good 'ol trustworthy Havoc in charge of the forces of evil. They were stripped of the resources to resist him and he wasn't as dangerous as any of the other villains, was he? Havoc hoped he'd been reading public opinion about himself and his rivals correctly. Twelve years ago, he'd conquered Mariner Bay and began building a relationship with SPD. Now most evil beings viewed him as the most competent leader they'd ever had, and most leaders on the good side trusted him to keep the reins on other evil leaders. Of course with the SPD fleet and the various Megazords destroyed, he had the upper hand in all the negotiations with the forces of good. Olympius eating the Org seeds was the best thing that had ever happened to Havoc. Mama D would have to be proud of him now, and if she wasn't, who cared?!

"Diabolico, transmit this message to my wife. Tell her, 'Your son is dead and your husband is returning in triumph!'"

Diabolico did as he was instructed. He could not believe the sheer heights to which Havoc had taken the Demons. Once they were a backwater tribe of monsters on Earth who after being defeated in war by Dark Specter had been locked away by a wizard. They were the group who fought each other more than they did the Lightspeed Rangers. Now, as Havoc's adopted people, they were the most powerful faction in the entire United Alliance of Evil. Today the Demons had crushed the Orgs. Surely that was worth Trakeena the Elder, Villamax, and Scorpius's lives. Havoc was a leader to be proud of. Why, then, did Havoc's decision to kill them unsettle Diabolico? Because he knew that Havoc had no more of a heart than Bansheera did. She would rage and threaten to kill her henchmen when they failed her. The reason Havoc didn't was because he cared more about them; it was because he cared how it made him look. He was smarter than Bansheera, but when he calculated that murder was in his best interest, he ran toward it as eagerly as Bansheera ever had. That didn't worry Diabolico. Havoc had no reason to want him dead…yet.

**Next chapter begins the last book: Havoc. I have just killed off a lot of Ranger teams in this battle with Master Org, so the main plot issues in the last book are how to restore the original timeline and how do Goldar, Scorpina, their children and Rito find a place in it.**


	13. Book III: Havoc Ch 1: Manipulation

This is the beginning of the end of this story. Book III: Havoc will be six chapters and then there will be an epilogue. Since Trakeena the Elder is dead her daughter is now simply referred to as Trakeena.

"Out of my way, you little horror film rejects!" Divatox should as Batlings attempted to block her and Rygog's way deeper into Havoc's palace in Mariner Bay. Its inside was essentially a much larger version of the Demon's Skull Cavern. Its outside looked like an extravagant Disney World or Las Vegas Hotel, only with bone columns at the entryway and fire-breathing horned skulls. It basement extended far underground and covered most of the space beneath Mariner Bay. It was here that Havoc kept Serpentera II and other projects that he was working on.

"What do you want?" Diabolico asked as he emerged from behind a column.

"Ah, you're Diablo, my brother's right hand monster."

"My name is Diabolico, and yes, I serve the Grand Monarch of Evil faithfully."

"Where's my bother keeping my granddaughter?"

"Where she belongs; with her other grandmother, the Queen." Diabolico just now realized that Havoc had accepted the Grand Monarchy for himself alone. He was emperor, not king, but he had not elevated Bansheera. She remained queen, not empress.

Divatox crossed her arms and sneered, "That's what worries me! In one timeline she was killed everyone who worked for her."

Diabolico glared at Divatox, "I don't need you to remind me of that. Fortunately for you Trakeena is not and will never be a warrior for her. Havoc is training his sons to be strategic geniuses and the one that impresses him the most will become Trakeena's husband when they are old enough."

Divatox looked confused and said simply, "My brother doesn't have any sons."

"Not with Bansheera. Such a child would be too closely related to marry Trakeena." Diabolico paused and added, "I once fathered a child for the Queen when her first husband was incapable."

A startled look spread across Divatox's face, "You're her grandfather too."

"Not legally, as I was never legally Olympius's father. Our etiquette did not allow me to love him, and I refused to take orders from my own son." Diabolico looked away, as if ashamed to face anyone when he said this, but, he felt, it needed to be said. "I was the one who banished him to the Shadow World. Bansheera only let me get away with it…until he returned and proved he was stronger."

Diabolico did not know why he should tell that to Divatox and Rygog, or why he should feel guilty about it after what had been thirteen years for him. He only knew this: "Bansheera and I both failed as parents. Maybe, with all the burden of proving themselves being placed on Havoc's sons, Bansheera will be a better grandmother than she was a mother. I know that I will try to be a better grandfather." Diabolico turned around and his eyes met Divatox's, "I will keep our granddaughter safe."

* * *

"And if the people of Aquitar do not surrender Mandilok, Retinax, and Nayzor to me, my loyal servant Vexacus shall hunt them down even, if every ocean on Aquitar must be drained. Good day!" Havoc closed the communiqué and leaned back in his leather chair.

"Where are the Orgs, really?" Vexacus asked, stepping into what only seconds before would have been the telecommunicator's field of view.

"Mesogog has them. He is trying to create a pollutant resistant dinosaur species from Org DNA. The point is their disappearance gives you an opportunity to do what Scorpius, Olympius, Trakeena, Deviot, and I promised you thirteen years ago, without resistance from the Order of Meridian. Most of SPD and the Rangers were wiped out by Master Org. Only my adopted sister's real sister, Dimitria, remains my vocal opponent. Earth and most of the Milky Way have to trust me. Of course, I only care about increasing my influence, and right now that means helping you increase yours." Havoc tapped his fingers on his clear crystal desk.

"How did Mesogog get them?" Vexacus asked.

"Deviot gave them to him. Fear of them bringing back Master Org kept him in line. I offered him more independence in running the Machine Empire than his Orgship did. He can be quite loyal when you know how to manipulate him correctly."

"Are you manipulating me, Your Highness?" Vexacus asked.

"Should I be?" Havoc responded and started laughing. Vexacus stared at him for a moment before Havoc said, "I'm simply repaying you for helping us get rid of Gasket. Olympius's Org escapades distracted us for twelve years, and I had my own territory to conquer. But now we can throw our full weight behind you conquering Aquitar."

"And we can drag on the excuse of hunting down the Org generals indefinitely. Would Your Majesty be insulted if I took the title 'Protector-General of Aquitar'?"

Havoc folded his arms behind his head and said, "It's not me that you need to worry about offending. It's the people of Aquitar. Call yourself whatever you want so long as you give the people the illusion that you care about their rights and what's in their best interest. Only when you completely control their media and thus the people's perception of you, can you act like a tyrant."

Havoc thought about what he'd just told Vexacus. All major media networks on Earth agreed that Havoc, while at times controversial, was genuinely dedicated to the peaceful coexistence of all species on Earth and that he genuinely cared about Earth's safety. That part was true, as Earth was his base of operations and he cared about his own safety. He also had everyone convinced that he was an expert on Orgs, which was not exactly true as even the Orgs themselves didn't understand how they reproduced or how Master Org kept returning. Havoc did know everything about Orgs that Gasket knew, and Gasket's files on the original Master Org and Dr. Adler were extensive. Havoc had not yet suspended the authority of any Earth government, but so far they were buying the myth of the great protector.

* * *

"This marriage proposal is insulting!" Zedd said. "Our son to wed Havoc's illegitimate daughter while Princess Trakeena marries one of Havoc's sons!"

"What'd you expect, Zedd? He's the Grand Monarch of all Evil! Naturally he'd want to unite his bloodline with the last imperial family," Rita said looking at Havoc's palace through her Repulsascope.

"We had the understanding with Trakeena and Oympius that if they had a girl, our son would marry her! Then Olympius had to go and make himself a vessel for Master Org. And Trakeena's been missing for a year," Zedd clanged his fist against his chair.

"Her sudden disappearance is so suspicious. If Havoc did kill her he couldn't have picked a better time. Her husband had just turned into a complete Org; she and her father had just spent twelve years under Org Olympius's complete mercy. I'd probably want sometime time to gather my thoughts to, but to name Havoc as emperor, not just temporary regent…I smell a rat," Rita summarized.

"Our plan is still workable. We must undermine Havoc's position as protector of Earth before it becomes irrevocable," Zedd said. What he said was true, but Havoc's position was growing stronger each day.

"SPD and the Rangers are mostly gone. We still have Tommy to work with," Rita said.

"He's an old man now and few people know of his Ranger career, especially after the battle with Master Org," Zedd said pessimistically.

"Maybe were going about this the wrong way," Rita said. "If we can't get anyone good to stand in his way, we should get someone evil."

Zedd brought his hand to his visor and said, "Really, Rita? The forces of evil worship the ground that Havoc walks on!"

"His sister doesn't. And Havoc resents his mother for adopting Divatox and never telling him that Divatox wasn't really related to them. Then there's Deviot. He betrayed his cousin, and Master Org, all to keep his grip on the Machine Empire. If we offered the Machine Empire complete independence from the UAE, we could get Deviot on our side."

Zedd then interrupted his wife, "And Mesogog always wants new forms of DNA to experiment with. You are a genius, my dear!"

"We can contact all three of them easily, but Mesogog will want to extract DNA from all of his samples in person. One thing that the traitors and their Org friends share in common with us is that they want to see the downfall of Havoc," Rita said.

"They should make excellent guinea pigs and buy us Mesogog's support," Zedd stood up and happily swung his fists. He knew that the traitors would obey. They'd listened to their conversations in the Dark Dimension and learned that Goldar and Scorpina had children. Now they could threaten the children to ensure the parents' loyalty.

"I'm actually glad that they ran away because now we have the ultimate means to control them," Zedd said.

* * *

Zedd entered the dungeon room where he was keeping his once and future servants. He stood in the doorway at the head of the stairs.

"You should be happy to know that I've found your children and they're safe. How long they remain that way depends on you."

"What do you want, Zedd?" Goldar demanded.

"Unless you want your children to suffer severe psychological trauma, I'd start referring to me as 'Lord Zedd!'" Zedd was halfway down the stairs when he had that exchange with Goldar.

When Zedd reached the bottom of the stairs he said coldly, "I'm taking you to visit a scientist named Mesogog. He collects DNA from various lifeforms in order to create the ultimate form of dinosaur life." Zedd looked at Toxica and Jindrax, "He should be especially interested in Org DNA."

"We don't have kids you can threaten us with, Ted!" Jindrax said.

"It's 'Zedd,'you miserable excuse for a court jester! Z-E-D-D! Zedd!" Zedd yelled directly into Jindrax's face.

"I just call 'im 'Ed,'" Rito said.

"Jindrax is right," Toxica said. "We don't have any children for you to threaten us with."

Zedd ignored Toxica visually and stared at Goldar and Scorpina before saying, "_They_ have children, and if I hurt their children because of you, they will blame you. Look them in their eyes and tell me it isn't so!"

Toxica looked at Scorpina and Goldar and saw the pleading eyes of parents who did not want harm to come to their children. She knew she didn't want their kids to get hurt anyway, but she felt compelled to look anyway.

"No harm will come to their children because of me," Toxica said.

"Or me either," Jindrax added.

"Why are you sending us to Mesogog, Zedd?" Scorpina asked.

"Because I'm building an anti-Havoc alliance and I think I can get Mesogog's loyalty, for the right price."

"You're using us as currency? That's pretty low, Ed, even for you," Rito said.

Zedd smiled behind his mask, walked up to Rito, swung his staff around and hit Rito on the head with it. Rito collapsed, legs sprawling.

"The only reason I don't destroy you Rito is because you're my wife's brother. I will treat you as currency or whatever else I need you to be to serve my needs. Did you wonder why everyone was so shocked that Bansheera killed her own minions? It wasn't because we thought she was too evil! It was because we thought she was too stupid! Why kill what you can reuse an inexhaustible resource! That's what minions are: resources!"

"What gives you the right to say that? You're not any kind of different being than we are,"Scorpina said as she knelt down, supporting herself with her sword. Rito put one arm around Scorpina's waist and pushed himself upward with his sword.

"I'm the being that holds your children's future in his hands! That gives me the right to treat you how I please!"


	14. Chapter 2: Conspiracy

Trivia: While Rito, Elgar, Jindrax and seasons 1 and 2 Goldar shared the same suit actor, Rito and Deviot shared the same voice actor: Bob Papenbrook.

* * *

Rita picked up the phone in her bedroom, sat on the bed, and dialed Divatox's number. After ringing once, someone on the other end picked up.

"Hello," a gravelly masculine voice said.

"I want to talk to Divatox," Rita said.

"One moment, please," the monster on the other end assured her.

Rita heard a muffled, "Divatox, it's for you."

Loud enough to compensate for not having the phone in hand, a feminine voice angrily said, "Who is it, Rygog?"

"It's Rita Repulsa, Your Evilness."

Rita could not here Divatox mutter unenthusiastically, "Great!" but she was eager to get this conspiracy started when Divatox picked up.

"What do you want, Frida?"

Rita hated when Divatox called her that. No matter now, larger issues were afoot.

"Divatox, this is about your family. Your daughter has been missing for almost a year. Your brother has usurped her throne and he won't let you see your granddaughter."

"My daughter has never wanted to see me, Frida," Divatox said exasperatedly. "Her father poisoned her against me."

"But that's just it! No one has seen Scorpius either. The lord of the insect criminal underworld does not just let his ex-brother-in-law step in and take his daughter's title."

Divatox got angry and spat back at Rita, "Trakeena had to spend twelve years with Master Org! I could only imagine wanting to take an extended absence after what my daughter went through!"

"Exactly," Rita said, "An extended absence, not an abdication!"

Divatox thought about what Rita was saying. Havoc had explained the active role Trakeena had played in Gasket's overthrow. The original scheme, which had given Divatox such high hopes, had made Trakeena coequal sovereign of all evil with Olympius. During the Org rage that Olympius had vented at his parents after Havoc conquered Mariner Bay, Divatox had seen fear for her family in Trakeena's eyes, but also a steely determination to hold on to what was hers. Her final act of defying Olympius by abandoning ship while he was in the Org Nexus showed bravery and strength…but she'd left the Scorpion Stinger in orbit…

"Do you have any idea why my daughter left the Scorpion Stinger in Earth orbit before Master Org stole it?"

"What did Havoc say? That would be the first place in this dimension that Master Org would return to. But she didn't leave with just her father and daughter. She took her whole army with her."

Divatox thought for a minute and then said, "She wasn't giving up. She was changing bases. She still had throne to protect from the Orgs!"

"Funny how shortly after she arrives on Earth and she and her father disappear. How at the same time her heir ends up in your brother's control. Funny how with the Empress missing and her daughter a hostage, your brother gets an army of Stingwingers to command, in addition to his wife's Batlings and his own Chromites."

Divatox felt a chill grab her heart.

"Do you think Trakeena is still alive?"

"He probably threatened Scorpius or your granddaughter with death to get Trakeena to sign her name to the statement making him emperor. I've recently found out that if you have someone that really loves their family members, you just have to threaten their loved ones and they'll do whatever you say." Rita was thinking even now of just how easy it had been to get the henchmonsters to follow Zedd into Master Vile's old Space Skull for their grizzly appointment with Mesogog.

"Tell me, do you think Trakeena loved her father and daughter enough to give up the Grand Monarchy to save them?"

After all those years of Scorpius's brainwashing Trakeena against Divatox, she had to love him. Even if she'd sacrifice her father for her daughter, she wasn't Bansheera. She'd not sacrifice her child for her power.

"She would've signed," Divatox admitted.

"And once her name was on the paper, Havoc had no more need of her or Scorpius," Rita said bluntly.

"Do you remember when Havoc had you take a DNA test, took it himself, and got your mother to take it?" Rita said. She was being truthful here, but being truthful suited her purposes. Havoc had a blood feud against Divatox that went back to the mother they did not share. Both for Rita's plans which the space witch cared very much about, and for Divatox's own good, which Rita cared very little about, the pirate queen needed to know how much her brother hated her.

"Your brother knows that only a woman can succeed Mama D, but since she had no daughters she adopted you. Havoc served you when he thought you were his real sister, but when he learned the truth…"

"Havoc is at war with my bloodline! He thinks he's Mama D's real heir…"Divatox stopped in the middle of her thought, "Since she had no biological daughters, he _is_ her heir!"

Rita wished she could remember some spell that would allow her to create a portal in space and knock Divatox on the head with her phone.

"Now do you get it! Havoc is driven by a deep sense that the universe owes him and that he has been cheated out of what is rightfully his! That's why he couldn't serve Trakeena, because she was your daughter!"

"What will he do to my granddaughter?" Divatox panicked.

"He's going to have one of his sons marry her. She may be one-fourth you, but she is also one-fourth Bansheera and one-fourth Scorpius. Havoc wants to mingle his DNA with theirs. That's the only thing keeping her alive!"

Divatox stood silent on the other side of the phone for several minutes then screamed the foulest list of profanities that Rita ever heard, which, considering the arguments that Zedd and Master Vile used to have, was a record Rita didn't think could be broken. Divatox ended her tirade with an eardrum-piercing, "Havoc!"

"I'm going to take this up with every media outlet in the universe and I'm going to bring in the one person Havoc most fears!" Divatox hung up.

Rita needed to give hear eardrums a moment to regain her hearing. Divatox could be very loud when provoked.

Rita got up and walked to her balcony in the throne room. Deviot was sending a subspace message to Rita and she had to be ready to discuss treason with the holographic projection of Deviot. Most holographic projections sent to the palace caused lightning-like flashes, so Rita was surprised when Deviot's upper torso blinked into existence. Rita jumped back.

"The Machine Empire's new holoimaging technology can be startling. We're still trying to work all the bugs out," Deviot explained through his hologram.

"Right," Rita said. "How is the Machine Empire these days?"

"Very relieved that Master Org is gone…for now anyway. In fact we are one of the most important members of the new United Alliance of Evil under Emperor Havoc. We are so well positioned in fact, that despite what you said, I believe that it is you who has need of us," Deviot said, confident that Rita needed his help, while he did not need hers.

"Actually, I think that we can help each other," Rita said.

"Elaborate," Deviot said cocking his head.

"There was a time when the Machine Empire was an independent entity. When Mondo drove me out of this palace he wasn't acting on Dark Specter's orders. Now Havoc has Serpentera, the Stingwingers, Batlings, Chromites…" Rita paused and huffed, "…and a growing number of human military personnel."

"I'm not that concerned,"Deviot said dismissively. "I've already built a third Serpentera with not only a cloaking device, but a device capable of jamming Havoc's cloak."

Rita's heart sank like a stone. Deviot already had everything he needed to devastate Havoc except incentive. There had to be some way that she could buy off Deviot.

"I don't believe you. It took Havoc twelve years to build his Serpentera!"

"And he had help from the Rangers, SPD, and, most importantly, the Machine Empire. We had the blueprints of what he constructed and the resources to build one of our own."

Rita had to think on her feet. If a battle broke out between Deviot and Havoc, Deviot would likely win, which wouldn't help Rita and Zedd. However, if they incited Deviot to rebel and then killed him, they'd have his Serpentera. They were overdue to replace the one that had originally been Zedd's anyway.

"Look, we think Havoc killed Scorpius and Trakeena Sr. We want Divatox, Scorpius, and Bansheera's granddaughter for our son. We want to be able to conquer this galaxy, which will never happen as long as its people believe that Havoc is its benevolent dictator who wants to protect and defend it!" Rita was pacing back and forth screaming to emphasize her points about Havoc.

"I see," Deviot said. "You're stuck in the same position I was in when my dear cousin Gasket brought us into this timeline."

"If Thrax and Trakeena Jr. were married, that would unite all the evil royal houses. Havoc would never agree to this but if we had a new Grand Monarch, he would allow the marriage. We could all use the forces of good's weakness now to conquer whatever galaxies we wanted and not worry about winning over the people." Rita sneered in disgust at her last statement.

"I think I know just the machine," Deviot said. "Send representatives to talk to me, but first let me give you a piece of free advice. To cut down those numbers of human military personnel working for Havoc, you should go public with a secret orders he gave me." Deviot fell silent waiting for Rita to ask him what this important information was. He didn't have to wait long.

"So spill it! What did he tell you?"

Deviot leaned in closer so that the holoprojector only showed him from the chest up.

"The three Org generals aren't on Aquitar. They're at Mesogog's lab."

* * *

"Mesogog confirmed what Deviot told you, Rita," Zedd said from the other side of a viewing portal in the Space Skull. He was sitting in what had once been Master Vile's throne. Thrax stood to his right.

"He even showed me the tanks where he's keeping them in suspended animation. That much of the story is true. I don't know Deviot well, but he was willing to betray his cousin to become the Machine King. He seems like the type to grasp for more power if he can do it safely," Zedd said.

"My thoughts as well. But to really make sure that it's us who get the power we will need to kill him off at some point before we kill Havoc," Rita said.

"We can ask Deviot for a tour of his Serpentera and kill him where he thinks he is safest," Thrax said. His muscles twitched in anticipation of committing his first betrayal.

Zedd stood and put his hand on Thrax's shoulder and commented, "That's my boy!"

Thrax thought to himself, _One day I'll make you pay for the way you treated my grandfather!_

Zedd turned to face Rita again. "We have to deposit our cargo at Mesogog's lab, but soon we'll be laying in a course for home."

Thrax looked at Zedd uncertainly. "I thought we were going to kill Deviot!"

Zedd gave Thrax a hard slug on the cheek.

"Zedd!" Rita screamed in reprimand.

Thrax changed hands he was holding the staff with to message his cheek.

"The boy has to learn to think strategically, Rita! Deviot has just agreed to major treason; he will expect plotting on our part now. We will need to wait until Deviot feels safe with us and we are able to persuade Divatox and Mesogog of just how dangerous he is. Then we kill him and purpose the idea of an evil council to them. Why would they want a new Grand Monarchy when we could offer them complete equality with us? The universe is filled with enough territories for us all to conquer. We are not going to make the same mistake as Havoc and Gasket."

"I get what you're saying, Zeddy, but stop mistreating my son, or Deviot will not be the only one with an unfortunate accident!"


	15. Chapter 3: Chamber of Horrors

This is probably the darkest chapter in the whole story, because I think Mesogog is _**that**_ sadistic and sick. He may never be Grand Monarch of Evil, but he is easily the Dr. Mengele of the Power Rangers Universe, and is easily as evil as Havoc, Bansheera, or Master Org in his own way. Possibly worse—Mesogog mentally tortured Elsa and Zeltrax rather than just kill them off.

* * *

Goldar awoke in a cell. He immediately looked around, seeing energized purple bars separating his cell from the corridor outside. He also noticed that he was shackled. Small spiked silver orbs connected to each other by crackling purple energy currents formed bonds around Goldar's wrists and ankles. The orbs in the back fed currents into sockets in the wall. Goldar also noticed that he was naked and his armor lay in a corner of the room. A toilet and a sink were the room's only furniture. While Goldar was trying to figure out what had happened to him, Mesogog stepped into view outside the bars.

"Hey, you!" Goldar yelled, "Let me out!"

Goldar thought that Mesogog was going to comply for a minute when he deactivated the bars with a device he held in one hand and entered Goldar's cell. What happened next confused Goldar.

"Goldar, Titanian Warrior, mammalian life form, sentient primate, well developed muscular system…could contribute useful genes." Mesogog said all of this except for the last part without any emotion, in a detached analytical monotone. The last part sounded like a crazed predator eager to sink his teeth into tasty prey. Mesogog, after all, had powerful predatory instincts . Mesogog held a syringe with a large needle in his other hand.

Goldar instinctively tensed as Mesogog put the device that removed the bars on his belt, and held up the syringe. Mesogog held Goldar's forearm stable as plunged the syringe into Goldar's tricep. Goldar howled as the thick needle entered him. Mesogog ignored Goldar's cries of agony and slowly pulled back on the plunger. Mesogog saw the resesvoir slowly fill with blood. Goldar then noticed that Mesogog was wearing disposable surgical gloves. After he removed the syringe and placed it in a holster on his belt, he brought his hands to Goldar's wound and pressed down on it tightly.

"You could just get DNA from my saliva," Goldar said in a strained voice.

"That would be less painful to you and less… enjoyable…to me." The predator lingered for a minute before the scientist returned.

"The pressure will stop the bleeding. Above your hands on the wall are com switches. I will feed you at regular hours. Should you require the toilet, the com switches will alert my Tyrannodrones. They will unlock the bonds between you and the wall, but the bonds between your ankles and wrists will remain present at all times."

_Great. I can't wait_, Goldar thought sarcastically. "What If I want to sleep?"

"You will find that maintaining your posture constantly is quite exhausting. Sleep will eventually come to you."

"You take blood samples—quite painfully, won't let us lay down to sleep or even go to the bathroom in privacy. The guests must give you great reviews."

Mesogog removed his hand from Goldar's tricep. The bleeding had stopped

"Your bleeding has stopped. Now I will take your sample back to the main lab. Once I've purged the specimen of any parasites and determined just what part of your genome corresponds to your muscular system, I will know what part to graft on to my Neosaurus's genome."

* * *

Scorpina was in the same condition as Goldar: naked, chained by purple energy conduits to the wall. Mesogog stood behind the energy bars and looked at her, wondering why she appeared as a human.

"Enjoying your view, Doctor?" Scorpina said sarcastically.

"I'm enthralled not so much by your mammalian beauty, as I am by your decision to show this form. I know that you are a Scorpion monster. Yet, for some reason, you choose this form. Is it for Goldar?"

Scorpina did not answer. She'd chosen to use a human form long before she had met Goldar. The 'human' appearance was actually common among the universe's inhabitants. Scorpina's ability to appear human was inherited camouflage. Like any good skill it had to be practiced to be maintained effectively.

"It is understandable. Goldar is a mammal."

Scorpina tried to drown out Mesogog's talk about her intimate activities with Goldar. But she couldn't…

"Shut up, you stupid lizard! This is a genetic ability that can make me have an appearance that's common to many species of the universe!"

"That genetic ability is what captivates me," Mesogog said as he turned off the bars to the cell and entered. He turned the bars back on when he was in. "Your scorpion form has an exoskeleton for defense and a stinging tail for offense. I would just like to understand why you limit yourself? "

"To keep my human form convincing I need to continually practice."

"Well, when we have genetic gifts we me must take care of them." Mesogog put on a sterile pair of lab gloves and took out a fresh syringe. "I am afraid that I need a blood sample." Mesogog gently brushed Scorpina's hair and wrapped a strand around his finger. He injected his syringe into the side of her shoulder. Scorpina bit her lip. Within a moment, Mesogog had a reservoir filled with blood cells containing Scorpina's shape-shifting genes.

"You should have sterilized the injection site," Scorpina said.

"If I cared about you getting sick, I would have. I don't care what happens to you or your husband once I have DNA that I can recplicate."

Scorpina looked at the syringe. "What are you doing with all that DNA?"

"Building the ultimate life form." Mesogog held the syringe under the light in the cell, lingering on the rare amber color of Scorpina's blood. When he isolated the part of her genome that controlled shape shifting, he would add it to the genomic structure of the neosaurus. He then looked back at Scorpina.

"There is a communications switch above each of your hands, if you need anything."

* * *

Rito's skeletal armor was a part of his body, so Mesogog could not strip him down any further. Mesogog was standing behind the purple bars taking mental note of his new specimen's physical features.

"Rito Revolto, a vertebrate with an external skeleton…quite rare."

"Thanks for the compliment," Rito said, trying to figure out if what Mesogog just said was, in fact, a compliment.

Mesogog lowered the bars and stepped into the cell. He looked at Rito .

"Your sister would be very angry if anything I did killed you, but that would be quite difficult anyway."

"What do you mean?" Rito asked.

"The thing I value most about you is your impressive immune system. According to your sister, the only time you wash your hands is after defecating or before eating something that you cannot use utensils for. You do not bathe, you do not brush your teeth, and you pick your nose. Yet, you are never sick, and no one around you catches anything from you."

"You are too kind. The last time I had any kind of cold was forty thousand years ago when I was a kid."

"Your immune system was being tested for the first time," Mesogog mused. "There are all kinds of tests I would like to perform on you, but your sister will not allow them." Rito then noticed that Mesogog was wearing surgical gloves. He saw that Mesogog had a large syringe in his belt holster. He took it out with one hand began feeling Rito's arm.

"What're ya doin'?" Rito asked, quite worriedly.

"Feeling to see where your bone is the least thick," Mesogog could not find a place on Rito's arm as soft as Goldar or Scorpina's, but he could tell by looking that arms were one of the softest places on Rito's body, almost more like pigmented cartilage than bone. He found a soft area between Rito's shoulder and elbow. Mesogog then removed a packet of IV prep from his pocket. Rito looked at it.

"You need this least of anyone, but, because of who your sister is, you get the most sanitary injection I can provide," Mesogog said . He tore the packet open and swabbed the area of Rito's arm where he plunged the needle. Rito yelped, but Mesogog ignored him. Within moments, Mesogog had another blood sample. He apllied gauze to the insertion sight, and Rito stopped bleeding in a few moments.

"We are almost through," Mesogog said.

"Almost?!" Rito did not want to be stuck by another needle.

"Half of what the body gets rid of in the defecation process is bacteria. I am studying your immune system and I want a stool sample."Mesogog briefly stepped outside of the cell and out of Rito's view. When he returned he brought a blue bucket with a rim on the top large enough to sit on.

"When you next feel the need for a bowel movement, flip one of the switches above your hands and some Tyrannodrones will come to assist you."

* * *

Goldar was sure of one way to get out of here. He fliped the switch above his right hand and the Tyrannodrones came. They disengaged the bonds keeping Goldar to the wall. As they started to lead him to the toilet, he threw his hands against the Tyrannodrone on the left. When it raised its claw, Goldar held out his bound hands. He made sure that it knocked offline some of the metal orbs generating the bonds. Then he grabbed its claw and freed his ankles as well. He threw this Tyrannodrone into its companion. The cell was still open. Goldar hurriedly put on his armor and picked up his sword. Then he marched out, into the corridor.

* * *

Jindrax and Toxica had fared better than their companions. They had no restraints apart from the bars to the cell, and so far Mesogog had not made them take off their clothing. They even had a bed in their cell. The most uncomfortable thing was the questions Mesogog was asking.

"Of the three Org Generals in my lab, two are male and one is hermaphrodite. It is my understanding that the Master Org creates new Org life by chaneling the liforce energy of fallen Orgs from the past into new hosts. Yet, that leaves out the question of how Org life began in the first place. Jindrax, what do you mean that you had a brother?"

"Juggelo and I both formed in the same pool of toxic slime, so we called each other 'brother.' How or why we formed I don' know. We formed as adults, already knowing how to talk and wanting to cause dstruction." Mesogog nodded. He then looked to Toxica.

"My story's pretty much the same, except I was the only one who formed in my pool. Maybe Master Org used the liforce energy of things that weren't Orgs originally when we first awoke."

"That still leaves the question of where did Master Org come from. It would seem that neither of you know anything for certain about how Org life began. Nevertheless you have given me some interesting hypotheses. I am just curious about one more thing. Since Orgs do not reproduce sexually, why do the two of you have a sexual relationship?"

Jindrax and Toxica both looked shocked.

"We're married and we love each other!" Toxica said.

"Love is an emotional response in the brain driven by the need to reproduce, or it could be a response driven by your need to stay to together in order two survive. You were the only two Orgs on Earth for a long time."

"It's more than that," Jindrax said.

"I'm afraid that every emotion is merely the result of chemical processes in the brain. That is why things like subjective love and friendship can exist but an objective moral code never can."

"Morals can have community building uses!" Toxica said. Mesogog stood and folded his hands behind his back.

"Subjective morals perhaps. I believe that my efforts to engineer a new saurian race are right because they can create what is objectiveley superior to all others, but objective morality cannot exist because it cannot be quantifyed. Objective love cannot be quantified, therefore—" Mesogog never finished that controls to the bars had been jammed. Nothing was holding Jindrax and Toxica in their cell now.

Mesogog ran out only to be ran through by Goldar's sword.

The mad reptilian scientist coughed up his own blood and fell to the floor. Toxica ran out of her cell to see what had happened. Mesogog lay on the floor with a stab wound in his chest. Goldar's sword dripped red Earth vertebrate blood.

"When Zedd finds out what's happened to Mesogog…" Toxica was thinking of Goldar's children, but so was Goldar.

"Now Zedd doesn't have to share power with Mesogog, and Zedd has three Org Generals as his prisoners."


	16. Chapter 4: Aftermath

We have three chapters and an epilogue to go before the story is over. In this chapter Goldar feels guilty over the way he killed Mesogog , and Zedd builds an alliance to take on Havoc.

* * *

Goldar felt guilty. He did not know why. He'd killed before when he'd worked for Zedd and Rita. It wasn't like Mesogog was innocent. He was completely insane and needed to go before he created a species of neosauruses. Still, something about running an unarmed monster through with his sword…well, Mesogog wasn't technically unarmed. He had the ability to torture with his mind. Still, taking his lab and all the biological weapons he'd been building for Lord Zedd in exchange for his children's safety, did not sit right with Goldar.

"Goldar, what is it?" Scorpina asked. They were standing in Mesogog's central lab. Shelves of carefully labeled vials surrounded the sides of a cylindrical DNA modulator. On the side where Goldar and Scorpina stood was a computer console that controlled the modulator. If they destroyed all the germs that Mesogog had preserved, maybe that could justify killing him. Maybe…Goldar wanted to believe…

"Goldar?"

Goldar faced his wife. "Scorpina, you know I said I planned on holding this facility for Lord Zedd in exchange for our children's safety but look at what that's done to us…"

"I know," Scorpina nodded and looked at the floor. "We became villains again, working for Zedd."

"Let's say we get the kids back? What're we gonna tell them when they ask how?"

"We can't erase that fact that we were turning back into our old selves, but we can make sure that Zedd doesn't get Mesogog's bio-weapons." Scorpina looked at all the vials, the modulator, and the control panel.

Goldar realized she was right. Nothing he knew of could change the fact that he had been a villain again, if only, for a few minutes. However he could do the right thing now. The signs on the control screen were written in English, and he, Scorpina, and Rito had been living in California for twelve years. For all that the language had a ridiculous spelling system, Goldar recognized what the word "PURGE" meant.

"We just have to put the vials in the modulator and press "PURGE"!" Goldar said.

"First we should purge this "neosaurus" genome from the computer," Scorpina said.

Goldar touched the button on the screen that said "PURGE ALL." In an instant the DNA sequences making up the neosaur genome were gone.

"Done!" Goldar said triumphantly.

"Oh no…we're just getting started," Scorpina looked at the hundreds of vials. She took the controls from Goldar and touched the button that said "INSERT". From the design schematics she saw on screen, she could tell that the modulator could hold ten vials at a time.

"Goldar, get Rito, Toxica and Jindrax in here. Things will go much faster if we have five monsters collecting vials instead of two."

Goldar did as was instructed and in only two hours, Mesogog's lab had been completely sterilized.

* * *

"You did _what_!?" Zedd demanded. He, Rita, Thrax, Divatox, and Deviot were looking at Goldar through the viewscreen in Mesogog's command chamber.

"Mesogog was a very sick and sadistic lizard who brought out the worst in me. I'm sorry that I killed him in cold-blood but you haven't lost anything. We have the three General Orgs, and you have one less monster to share power with."

"You could have at least kept his bio-weapons intact," Deviot said.

"I'm not going to give you more weapons of mass destruction, besides the Machine Empire has enough already."

"The Machine Empire may have enough, but I don't!" Zedd bellowed. "I haven't since the Rangers destroyed Serpentera with their Animarium Bike Thing!" Zedd sat down.

Rita analyzed the situation and immediately saw some opportunities. "Havoc told Deviot to give the Orgs to Mesogog to create a new weapon, and when he realized that Mesogog was going to use them against him he sent Deviot to repossess them and destroy Mesogog's lab." Rita cast Zedd that look that they'd give one another when one was planning something.

The story that they wanted was right there. Deviot would protest being treated like Havoc's errand boy, tell the people of Aquitar the truth about the General Orgs, and undermine Havoc's credibility on Earth. Then Rita and Zedd would kill Deviot. Everyone would assume it was Havoc who wanted Deviot dead.

Zedd looked toward Deviot and suggested, "Deviot, Rita and I need to discipline our underlings. Divatox has charges to press against Havoc. Why don't you see about leaking this news to the Milky Way Galaxy at large?"

"Very well. Havoc is well liked by the Milky Way's residence. Nation states on hundreds of worlds would give him their most destructive weapons to use against us, should we ever try to expand. But remember Zedd," Havoc paused and gave Zedd a piercing glance, "The Machine Empire is the most powerful force outside of Havoc's confederation. I wouldn't get too used to giving me orders if I were you."

"I would not dream of presuming upon the next Grand Monarch of Evil. My advice was just that…advice," Zedd said in the most reassuring voice. He and Deviot were already planning each other's demise.

"Speaking of orders," Deviot said swiveling his chair toward Divatox, "I think it would be best if you waited to press your charges a few days after I make my announcement."

Divatox nodded in agreement. "I think it will only help my case to wait until my brother is in the middle of a scandal."

"More importantly it will give the people of Earth reasons to doubt his good intentions," Deviot said.

Zedd faced Goldar on the view screen again. "Goldar, we are coming to get you. DO NOT destroy the Tyrannodrones. If we are lucky, Finster can reprogram them. Zedd out!"

The screen went blank and Goldar dropped his head between his knees. What was Zedd going to do to his children?

* * *

Back at Rita and Zedd's Moon Palace some unexpected new arrivals were waiting for Goldar and Scorpina. When Zedd forcibly marched Goldar, Scorpina, Rito and the Duke Orgs into his Chamber of Command, Goldar and Scorpina's children jumped forward.

"Mom!" Jason lurched at Scorpina and would not let her go.

"Daddy!" Trini hurled herself into Goldar's spread arms.

The reunion was sweet, but the large grey collars their children wore spoke of ominous undertones.

"What are these collars?" Scorpina asked.

Zedd spoke while striding to his throne, "They block your children from teleporting away." Zedd sat in his throne. "I'll never kill your children—then I'd lose my leverage—but if you try to disappoint me, I will hurt them."

Goldar and Scorpina simply looked at Zedd.

"That's really sick, Ted," Jindrax said.

"For the last time, it's 'Zedd,' you idiot!"

"Now that the reunions are out of the way, it's time to sit back and let Deviot do his work," Rita said, taking a look at Havoc's palace in Mariner Bay through her Repulsascope.

Zedd looked around the chamber and said, "It's too crowded in here. Goldar, take your wife, your children, your Orgs, and my brother-in-law so that Rita, Thrax and I can discuss our plans in private."

Gratefull for the chance to be alone with his family Goldar obeyed this order happily. There were enough unused rooms in the palace to find one for Toxica and Jindrax.

Once Zedd was alone with his wife and son he began discussing treason and protection.

"We were lucky that when we scanned the Space Skull we found no bombs attached to it. Deviot knows we're planning to kill him and he has already decided to kill us."

"How do you know this, Dad?"

Zedd kept his eyes on Rita for a moment before looking at Thrax.

"When someone has been in the business of betraying others as long as Deviot has, they know how to suspect in others. These are the kinds of things, Thrax, that you are going to have to know if you want to be Grand Monarch of Evil one day." Zedd was quiet for a minute, then he asked Thrax, "Son, why do you think I hit you so often?"

Rita was eyeing the movements of her husband and son intensely.

"Because I remind you too much of my grandfather?" Thrax offered.

Looking at Rita, Zedd said, "No son, it's not that. True I didn't like him, but he was a brilliant villain. I am jealous that he raised you and I didn't, but that's not the issue. I want to know how to make the best long term decisions possible because your mother and I won't always be here to decide for you. I thought if you associated a—" Zedd was about to say, "stupid," but looked at Rita—"ill-prepared response with pain, you'd think more carefully about what to do next time. I only want you to be a better Dark Lord than I was." Zedd stood up, laid his staff down and walked to Thrax and hugged him.

"I love you son."

"And I love you, Dad." _But I'm still going to make you pay for how you treated Grampa._

* * *

This had been the most horrible month of Havoc's life. Just as the invasion of Aquitar was getting started, Deviot announced the truth of what had happened to the General Orgs. Havoc had to withdraw his public support for Vexacus's conquest of Aquitar. Now Vexacus and his army had gone underground, angry with Havoc for withdrawing his support and angry with Deviot for blowing his cover. Then within four weeks, Divatox had pressed charges against Havoc in the human, American, Californian court system he had agreed to operate within over the disappearance of her daughter and imprisonment of her granddaughter. The image of Havoc as unifying and protecting figure was in serious question.

He had countered the best way he could. He spun the story that Deviot had been the one to tell him that the General Orgs had escaped while in reality, he kept their bodies in suspended animation. Havoc claimed he did not know that the Generals were still alive until Deviot killed Mesogog. Most people on Earth found it easier to believe Havoc than Deviot…at least until Havoc was accused of murdering his predecessor Empress Trakeena. He appeared on intergalactic television and explained why his stepdaughter-in-law retired and even showed cameramen a device platform that he said the former Empress used to make visits to see her daughter. It took Havoc's Chromites only a day to throw together a convincing platform and controls. Havoc repeatedly made himself cry when talking of the former Empress and reminded the media that Trakeena the Elder had never been raised by Divatox. This was all an attempted power grab by his adopted sister and the Machine King. He reminded the people of Earth, that while only one interpretation of the events could be true, Deviot was a traitor in both. Either Havoc knew what was going on and Deviot had betrayed the forces of evil by going public, or Havoc had been lied to by Deviot from the very beginning.

"It is worth remembering that Master Org began his invasion forging a thermonuclear-powered Org Heart in Machine Space. Deviot had the opportunity to seize the generals after the sacrifice of so many Rangers and SPD officers enabled me to defeat Master Org. Deviot lied to Master Org, he lied to me, and now he is lying to you," Havoc looked at the camera as if he were looking some human civilian directly in the eye.

When the cameraman signaled that the feed was over, Havoc slumped over on his crystal desk. When only he and Diabolico were in the room he grumbled, "I should've killed Deviot as soon as he had the Org Generals in prison. I was a fool to think I could trust him if I manipulated him enough. I read his file about the other timeline. He killed Scorpius and almost killed Trakeena without getting caught."

"His treachery did help us destroy Master Org," Diabolico said.

"Of that I have no doubt. But I'm afraid he's outlived his usefulness."


	17. Chapter 5: The Final Betrayal

Only two chapters and an epilogue to go. This chapter will surprise you. The name Chaotica is taken from Star Trek Voyager.

* * *

Five years had passed in an uneasy stalemate between Havoc and Deviot. During that time Thrax had watched Goldar's relationship with his now eighteen-year-old son, Jason. Goldar never hit him because he didn't think of the most carefully planned answer to each question he was given. On the first night the henchmen were made to accept rooms in Rita and Zedd's palace, Uncle Rito had approached Thrax from behind and forcibly hugged him and told him how much he had missed him. Thrax would not believe him at first. Uncle Rito had gone with Goldar and Scorpina—Scorpina, the monster who had been his nurse maid. Why had she left again? Because Rita had tried to make her marry Divatox's mentally disabled nephew. Thrax couldn't really blame her. But why had Uncle Rito gone? Thrax knew that Uncle Rito stood up for his friends, but shouldn't family be even more important? It was only Thrax, Mom, and Grampa against Dad. Thrax still had a bone to pick with Uncle Rito, but over the last five years, through his sheer buffoonery, Uncle Rito had warmed his way back into Thrax's heart.

As Thrax walked the corridors a nervous Finster ran into him. He had not lost his footing , but Finster was lying on the floor. Thrax helped him up while he spoke, "Prince Thrax, I've been looking all over the palace for you!"

"What is it, Finister?"

"Your parents should be the ones to tell you."

They walked into Zedd's chamber of command and Thrax saw his father seated on his throne and his mother looking out her Repulsascope. Zedd noticed Thrax first.

"Son, I'm going to need you to help me pull off a betrayal."

When Rita heard Zedd address Thrax she turned to watch her husband and son.

"Five years and no sign of our former grand empress have caused many on Earth to begin to question Havoc's story. Today Deviot is personally escorting Divatox and her mother to meet Havoc and Bansheera on Earth. He's in his Serpentera which is cloacked, but he doesn't want to provoke the major nations of earth into blasting him with ICBMs. He's asking that we send him our Putties, Tengas, and all of Finster's monsters."

"And how do I help?" Thrax asked.

"Deviot wants you as a hostage, but your father will be going with you," Rita said.

Thrax laughed and said, "I'm touched," in a mocking voice.

"I'm serious," Zedd said. "While I attack Deviot from the front, you will attack him from behind."

Thrax looked at the staves he and his father held. They were identical; both could cut through Deviot's body plating.

"And if I should plunge my staff through Deviot's back and out yours?"

"That's just a risk I'll have to take," Zedd said cooly. "I'd prefer you keep me around, but Rita can help you run the forces of evil if you take time to learn from her. It's for your reign that we're killing Deviot and Havoc in the first place. It's this that I have been pushing you for. If you see me as a threat, treat me as I would treat a threat."

* * *

In the cockpit of his Serpentera on Jupiter's moon Io, Deviot locked his screen on the distant speck and magnified. Havoc's grip on Earth was weakening. Divatox was down there this very moment seeing to that. Still, the Earth governments would not sit quietly if Deviot started attacking the planet from space. Serpentera could take down most of the nuclear missiles fired at it, but if even one got through in that initial exchange… Havoc, being the brilliant commander that he was would have realized by now that Deviot's Serpentera was at least as powerful as his, so Havoc would probably not risk a space battle. Deviot's best bet was to get close enough to Earth to deploy massive amounts of ground troops. Speaking of ground troops, Zedd should be here any time. Deviot heard large thuds outside the cockpit. He opened the door to see Zedd and Thrax standing in the hall, and Zurgane and Motodrone dead.

"It's amazing what this visor lets me see from just one deck below," Zedd said.

"You killed my guards!" Deviot screamed.

"When I saw exactly where they were, it was just a matter of teleporting directly behind them."

"If you think I'll let you get away with this—" Deviot threatened.

"You'll never get the chance to call security!" Thrax fired a steam of energy from his staff pushing Deviot back into the cockpit. Thrax and Zedd took positions opposite each other; Zedd at Deviot's feet, Thrax at Deviot's head. When Deviot stood, Zedd decapitated him with his staff and Thrax impaled him through the back with his.

The Z of the staff tore through layers of circuits and armor to emerge on the other side. Deviot's head could be dealt with later, right now Thrax had more important business to attend to, business he wanted Deviot to see and hear. He sliced through Deviot's body and let its two pieces fall to the floor. Thrax then assumed the same stance he had held with the staff when he lunged it into Deviot. This time however, Thrax was pointing the staff at his father.

"I should've expected this," Zedd said. He threw his staff to the side.

"You have hit me, and belittled my grandfather every chance you could get! I want to run you through and end your miserable life right now!"

Zedd was prepared to go to the Shadow World confident that Thrax would, under Rita's guidance, mature into a more powerful and evil Dark Lord than he had ever been.

Thrax brought his staff to Zedd's neck. Zedd waited for the killer blow.

"I am going up against one of the brilliant commanders in universal history. I need you and mom, Zedd, but don't think this means I love you!" Thrax painfully conked Zedd on the head with staff, but spared his life. Zedd could not have been prouder of his son's reasons for sparing him.

* * *

Divatox, Mama D, Havoc, Bansheera, Diabolico, and Rygog were all gathered in a dust and column filled room a hundred feet below ground. No cameras, no reporters.

Mama D sat in the stone throne that usually belonged to Havoc.

"I am completely and utterly disgusted with you, Havoc," Mama D said in a tone that reminded Bansheera of how she had once spoken to Olympius. "You have stolen my granddaughter's throne and murdered her!"

Havoc placed his hands on one of the stone columns and stretched saying, "Mother, I have done no such thing!"

"You have stolen her throne even if you haven't killed her!"

Havoc turned around ready to pounce on his mother, "I have only killed one grandchild of yours! Elgar is on Divatox's subcraft. Allow me to present your remaining grandchildren." Havoc turned again and snapped at Diabolico to bring his children to him.

As Diabolico left, Havoc put his elbow on the throne's arm when Mama D struck him. As Havoc tried to shake off the blow he said, "Tell me mother, how can you treasure that Inquirian prostitute so much and be so unfeeling toward your own flesh and blood?"

"What are you talking about?" Mama D said.

"Divatox is not your real daughter! And to further simply matters she played no part in raising Scorpius's Trakeena. That Trakeena said that your adopted daughter was her mother only in a biological sense! So how could that Trakeena be your granddaughter?" Havoc bellowed and made wild gestures with each sentence.

"Havoc, you know only a woman can be pirate queen. That's why I adopted Divatox in the first place, you idiot!" Mama D rose from her seat and screamed.

"Mother, could you quit reminding him I'm adopted! That only hurts our case!" Divatox said, sitting on a long bench between two stone columns.

"On the contrary, dear," Mama D said looking in Divatox's direction, raising her head back as if in laughter, then lowering it rapidly looking at Havoc. "This strengthens our case. He thinks that because he is my blood son, this makes him my heir!"

"I am your heir. Our culture practices female-preference primogeniture, not female-exclusive primogeniture!" Havoc stood at a sharp diagonal to his mother.

"What does 'primogeniture' mean?" Divatox asked.

"It means that the first born inherits," Bansheera said. "Female preference means that a younger female comes before an older male, if there are any females."

"You had a sister, Havoc, but she died as a baby," Mama D looked at Havoc as though she was reaching then end of her patience.

"I know. You told me while Gasket was playing with the timeline. You renamed Dimitria's sister after her, but somehow you got it into your brain that my adopted sister, Divatox, became the same person as my real sister, Divatox!" Havoc was screaming now, but what he said next he said choking on tears. "Before Gasket brought us here, I served your adoptee because I thought she was my sister. I built her spacebase, piloted the Metallosaurs for her, listened to her endless ingratitude and suffered through it all, because I thought she was going to be my Queen. But when I learned that she was Dimitria's sister, that my own sister was dead, I had to ask, 'why did you have to adopt?' What was so wrong with me?"

At this point Diabolico returned. Behind him were two young humanoid monsters. They wore helmets similar to Vypra. They had mixtures of what on Earth would be called European and East Asian facial features. The eighteen-year-old male, Chaotica, had a goatee on his chin but was otherwise clean-shaven. Silver armor covered his entire body except for his face and blue-gray wings. The sixteen-year-old daughter, Divatox, looked like Vypra, only more European.

"Here are your grandson and granddaughter. Chaotica had a twin but he didn't pass my more grueling tests. Your granddaughter is named after my real sister who died as a baby." Havoc then looked at Diabolico and said, "Get my wife's granddaughter." Diabolico left at once, bowing before he went.

"There is a Trakeena here, whom I have kept vary safe. I want her to marry Chaotica."

"You heartless filth," Mama D gasped. "You killed your own son!"

"I gave him a chance, Mommie, which is more than you ever gave me!" Havoc was so close to Mama D that only his mask kept him from spitting on her. "Bansheera gave Olympius multiple chances even though she abandoned him at one point. You make _her_ look like a good parent. But, even without you for comparison, she has been a wonderful grandparent."

Within moments, Trakeena, eighteen-year-old granddaughter of Scorpius and Bansheera walked into the room and embraced Bansheera. Bansheera returned the embrace and hugged her tightly. Trakeena looked at Mama D and asked, "Who is this?"

"A woman who is not related to you at all!" Havoc said. Then in a rare moment where Havoc reminded everyone who was Grand Monarch he commanded the Queen, "Bansheera, take Mama D's life force energy!"

A crackling purple energy shot out of Bansheera's long fingernail and entrapped Mama D. She tried to teleport away but she was trapped. In moments, Bansheera had absorbed Mama D into her own body.

"I can feel my old powers returning!"

"Then Bansheera, my beloved, why not use your powers to bend Divatox and Rygog to your will?"

The moment the words came out of Havoc's mouth, Divatox and Rygog teleported back to the subcraft.

**One chapter to go before the epilogue. **


	18. Chapter 6: Countdown to Oblivion

**This is the last chapter of Book III: Havoc. The next chapter will be an epilogue. The focus of the story radically changes from the villain's plotting to events that they unintentionally set in motion that will restore the original timeline.**

"He's holding my granddaughter hostage! And he wants her to marry his son!" Divatox whined.

"That's not going to happen, because she's going to marry my Thrax!" Rita said. The two evil queens were in Zedd's Chamber of Command…or now Thrax's Chamber, since he'd seized power from his father.

"Bansheera's in the perfect position. No matter which side wins, her granddaughter will be made Empress," Thrax.

"That's thinking strategically, son," Zedd patted Thrax on the head. Thrax clubbed Zedd in the stomach with his staff.

"No, thinking strategically would be using Bansheera to our advantage. If we threaten Jason and Trini, we can get our henchmen to 'rescue' Trakeena. Havoc will have to risk a space battle against our more powerful Serpentera to rescue her. That's thinking strategically!"

Zedd said cooly, "Bansheera has her powers back now. We run the risk of losing our minions to her. I assume you've thought this through?"

Thrax stood and looked down at Zedd from his position on the throne's platform. "Of course I have, you incompetent twit! We have a ready-made ally in Havoc's inner circle." Thrax pointed his staff to Divatox. Zedd and Rita looked at her.

"He's talking about Trakeena's paternal grandfather, Diabolico. His loyalty is to her, not Bansheera or Havoc."

Zedd grimaced behind his mask. Rita's disgust was more apparent.

"Bansheera mated with one of her own henchman!" Rita gaged before she finished the sentence.

"Havoc just killed one of his own sons who did not live up to standards. I know that if you can convince Diabolico that Trakeena would be safest with me—" Divatox began to speak

"How does her being with you help us?" Zedd asked when Thrax conked him on the side of the head.

"Strategy, Dad, strategy!" Thrax said in exasperation, wondering why this idiot used to criticize him over not thinking strategically. Of course, it was not so much that Zedd was stupid as it was that he was blinded by ego.

"Divatox is my future bride's maternal grandmother. She's knows she'll never get to see her if she becomes Havoc's daughter-in-law. But she did us the great favor of announcing on human tv that she saw Havoc and Bansheera kill her mother in person."

"Why did Havoc let you go and ruin his last shred of credibility with the humans?" Rita asked.

"Bansheera tried to take over her mind so she could repeat Havoc's story and relieve all doubts the humans had about him. Fortunately for us, Divatox was able to teleport before Bansheera could reach her. I imagine the Grand Monarch of Evil is furious with the Queen of Mariner Bay," Thrax summarized.

"It would seem that we should approach both Diabolico and Bansheera," Zedd said.

"I knew you had to have put your brain somewhere, Dad." Thrax interjected. "Once Trakeena is safely aboard Divatox's sub craft, I will challenge Havoc to a Serpentera duel in the Mojave Desert. He may not know of my ability to block his cloak, but he knows Deviot well enough to expect me to have the advantage…in fact I'm counting on it!"

* * *

Bansheera had had the Demons' loyalty once and lost it with her betrayal of them. Havoc had won it by conquering Mariner Bay. Now the human citizens of that city were calling on the United States army to take care of the Chromites, Stingwingers, and Battlings in the palace. Bansheera had erected a force field around the door to her chambers, while she, Diabolico, and Trakeena clung to each other for dear life. Havoc had made comments that the best way to ensure his own survival was to kill Trakeena and marry off his daughter, Divatox, to Thrax. The three demons sat on the edge of Bansheera's bed waiting for the sound of fighting to die down. The US army was clearing out the upper building while entire companies of foot soldiers in the lower levels were boarding Havoc's Serpentera at a frantic pace.

Goldar had been sent to rescue Princess Trakeena. He had teleported to the first floor of the building carrying a white flag to designate that he was a noncombatant and a map made by Porto showing him on which floors Bansheera, Diabolico, and Trakeena's rooms were. He also wore a belt with one of Finster's devices attached to it. It looked remarkably similar to the implosion device that he and Rito had once planted in the Command Center. When he finally came to Bansheera's quarters in the shallowest subterranean layer, he unclasped the device and deactivated the force field. Rita had supposed that Bansheera would try to raise one. Goldar entered the room.

"Who are you?" Bansheera demanded, standing up.

"My name's Goldar. Rita, Zedd, and Divatox sent me here to rescue Trakeena!"

Diabolico answered, "I know Divatox cares about our granddaughter. If you could take Trakeena and me to Divatox's sub craft—"

"Traitor!" Bansheera screamed. "I'm coming too!"

Diabolico fired energy from his staff and broke all of Bansheera's fingernails.

"She is too untrustworthy. I have no interest in regaining lost power, I only want to protect my granddaughter."

Goldar looked at Bansheera and said, "You're that crazy queen who killed all her own henchman and left her son to rot in the Shadow World? You're staying!"

Bansheera looked at Trakeena and said, "Go with them, dear." Then she turned to Diabolico and said, "If I escape and find out that my granddaughter has been hurt, I will absorb your life force energy!"

Listening to what Bansheera just said made Goldar question for a minute if she was really as crazy as the other evil leaders said or if she was operated by the same principles as Rita and Zedd but was simply less resource-minded.

"Goodbye, Grandma," Trakeena said. Then she took Diabolico's hand, looked at Goldar and said, "Let's go!"

When they had all gone, US soldiers came in and shot Bansheera with laser powered rifles until she was dead.

* * *

"Serpentera is full," Chaotica told his father from his seat at the helm.

"Then we depart now. There is still one way to preserve my status as Grand Monarch: destroy these upstarts, Zedd and Thrax, in this duel in the Mojave. If they think that their Serpentera is more powerful then they are in for a surprise."

Chaotica smiled. His father had found a way to route the energy from the quantum singularity that powered Serpentera almost exclusively to its weapons systems with the remainder of the power going into his own shields. It could penetrate the heaviest layer of shielding. The drawback was that switching Serpentera into this mode meant that it could not move while firing. However, Havoc doubted that he needed more than more than three shots.

The hanger doors in Mariner Bay opened and Serpentera took flight. One hour of uninterrupted flight took Havoc and his army to the edge of the Mojave. Crucially, Havoc had not yet routed main power to weapons. As he stared at the sandy arid expanse before him he said, "Son, feed main power to the shields. I'm expecting Thrax to come in cloaked and firing."

Chaotica did as his father ordered and, sure enough, a beam of energy hit Serpentera. The shields absorbed most of the impact. As Havoc suspected, Zedd's Serpentera could not sustain its assault for very long. It did last long enough for Havoc to note the location of his attackers.

"Chaotica, switch the feed to weapons and fire at mark .0324 by mark .164332"

"Havoc's knocked out our cloak!" Zedd said from the helm of Thrax's Serpentera.

"He must be using the quantum singularity in his zord to boost his shielding and weapons. Fortunately I've counted on the same thing," Thrax said. "Dad, take us down and feed all power into our own shields!"

Thus two Serpenteras, piloted by father-son teams waged war in the side of the Mojave nearest to Californian civilization. Thrax's strategy was essentially to keep his shields up until Havoc saw the futility of firing against them. Then they would wait for Havoc to teleport to their cockpit to do battle in person.

Unfortunately for Thrax, Havoc was thinking something similar. "We both have unlimited fuel for our weapons and shields but not for both simultaneously. This is a battle that no one can win if we keep fighting the way we have been. We are going to have fight in person. Our advantage is that we have far more soldiers than they do now that the Machine Empire has pulled out of the fighting. Open a channel to Thrax."

Chaotica hailed and Thrax responded. Havoc watched the scene before him with feigned scorn. "Oh, Thrax! You've pushed your father off his throne, and now you want to push me off mine…" Havoc said in a mockingly hurt voice.

Thrax was about to respond when a third party entered the fray. High above the Serpenteras a US air force plane dropped a four megaton hydrogen bomb directly between the two Serpenteras. The goal had been to destroy the Zords while they were in the desert, away from human settlement. However the energy unleashed by the Zords fueled the explosion far beyond its intended yield. The city of Palm Springs, on the edge of the desert where Time Force would later be formed was leveled in the shockwave.

* * *

Goldar watched as Diabolico and Trakeena tried to adjust to Divatox's crew. His job was to remain Thrax's informant aboard Divatox's ship until the battle was over. He was to make sure Divatox honored the marriage agreement. Diabolico immediately assumed a posture of command, intimidating all of Divatox's henchmen, while Trakeena looked at them with a mixture curiosity and amusement—in Rygog and Porto's case—or disgust—in Elgar's. Divatox was watching through her periscope when suddenly she screamed, "Viva la Diva! Now my granbaby doesn't have to marry anyone she doesn't want to!"

"What does that mean?" Goldar asked.

Divatox walked over to him looking like she had at last triumphed over all of her rivals.

"The humans got tired of us interfering in their affairs so they blew up both Serpenteras!"

Goldar tried to process what this meant. Zedd and Thrax were gone. Zedd had abused Goldar, threatened his loved ones, but still he had been an important part of Goldar's world in one way or another. Now he and his son were gone. Rito and Scorpina had helped raise Thrax. How were they going to handle this? Goldar even felt sorry for Rita. He knew what he would feel if something happened to Jason or Trini, and even though Rita was his enemy, he didn't want anyone to feel what she must be feeling now. At least he, Scorpina, and the kids had each other. So did Toxica and Jindrax. But was friendship enough for Rito?

"So, I guess my business here is done," Goldar said.

"So it would seem," Diabolico responded.

At that moment Divatox's phone rang.

"It's probably Frida. Maybe this phone call will save me a trip to her palace." Divatox picked up the phone. She expected to hear her rival sobbing with grief. She was in for a surprise.

"Divatox, it's Rita. Four Rangers from the future have just shown up at my palace."

"What do they want?"

"They have said that for the past eighteen years, the timeline has been altered and the events of today mean that their organization will never be founded."

"Rita, hon, I know your grieving about what happened—" Rita cut Divatox off mid-scentance.

"I don't have time to grieve! The Rangers need our help. They're willing to help us rescue things from this timeline if they can restore the original."

Divatox laughed. She already had everything she wanted!

"Listen to me, Divatox! We're going to succeed, and if you want your granddaughter to survive, you will help us!"

There was one thing that Divatox valued more than gold and jewels: the relationship with her daughter that Scorpius never let her have: that very relationship she wanted to recapture for her granddaughter.

"Tell me more."


	19. Epilogue

**Here it is…the last chapter.**

Goldar looked at the Time Force Rangers. Their leader, Jen, the Pink Ranger, seemed confident. He could tell that she was not the type to underestimate Rita, Divatox, or Diabolico. She said she needed their help, and Goldar admitted that the Time Force Rangers would not be here if they didn't. He also knew that she was not about to let the villains regain their former powers when the original timeline was restored. Goldar could agree with that. What he did not want was to be turned to dust in the new timeline before he and Scorpina had Jason and Trini. He felt relieved when Jen made her next ultimatum to Rita.

"Remove the collars that kept Jason and Trini from teleporting. We need everyone's cooperation on this."

Rita grudgingly grumbled, "Goldar, Scorpina, bring your kids here."

In moments Goldar and Scorpina had returned to the Chamber of Command with Trini and Jason. Rita fired her wand at their collars. The collars fell to the floor. Jason put his hands on his neck, feeling where his collar had been.

"We're free!" Jason said.

"Not just yet," Lucas the Blue Ranger said. "First we have to go back in time to 2026, the year Gasket started rebuilding the United Alliance of Evil with his time machine. We have to destroy Gasket and then help reunite you with your loved ones. "

"Ha!" Divatox laughed, "I'm already reunited with my loved one!"

"Yes you are," Jen said, "And I don't know what Rita said to you, but I promise, if you help you won't regret it. We can help you make peace with who you really are."

Divatox knew exactly what she was talking about—her identity as Dimitria's sister.

Jen kept talking now that she had everyone's attention again. "For you to come to terms with who you are, we need to fuse the memories of your present self with your purified self after the Z-wave. We have a device that can integrate the same person from two different timelines. Your crew can go back in time with you. Within a year, you will find your daughter, Trakeena, in the Miranoi system . She will be on a path to self-destruction after the Galaxy Rangers defeat her. You may be able to help her this time, if you are your purified self and have memories of this timeline. This isn't a promise, but it's Trakeena's best shot."

Divatox followed her precisely. "The chance of seeing my daughter again is worth anything, even if I have to turn good."

"I'm not sure I want to turn good, Auntie D," Elgar said.

"Then you can stay in this timeline and be wiped from existence!" Divatox snapped.

"No, I'm commin'!" Elgar insisted.

Jen nodded to Divatox, and then turned her eyes to Rita. "I've already told you what you need to do to get Zedd and Thrax back. I can guarantee you Zedd, but you'll have to do some persuading to get to Thrax."

Jen then looked at Goldar, Scorpina, Rito, Toxica, Jindrax, Jason, and Trini. After addressing them each by name, she said, "I'm going to have to ask you to stay in 2026."

**Machine Imperial Remnant Base 2026**

The Timeship emerged from the vortex to a period eighteen years in the past in a distant galaxy. Goldar knew the place and time well. It was where and when Gasket had altered the timeline. It surprised him that Gasket opened the hangar bay for the Time Force ship. When all of them: Divatox and her henchmen, Rita and her henchman, the Time Force Rangers, Diabolico, Toxica, Jindrax, Jason and Trini; proceeded unmolested all the way to Gasket and Archerina's Throne Room, they were completely surprised.

"Considering that all of you should not be here at this time, I'll wager that my plans to bring back all the villains have a disastrous effect on the timeline as a whole," Gasket said. He then entered a series of commands on the arm of his throne and doors on all sides of the throne room opened. Cogs poured in surrounding them on all sides. However, the Cogs made no offensive moves.

"Now," Gasket said, "Tell me what exactly happened?" He looked at Trini, Jason and Trakeena the Younger, "And who are you two?"

Goldar and Scorpina stepped forward and Goldar said, "They're our son and daughter, and Trakeena and Olympius's daughter."

"You must have been in the future for a long time," Gasket said.

"If you bring us all back, it's not going to be like you think, Gasket. We'll all fight to get to the top. Olympius will kill you, Master Org will take control of Olympius, Havoc will kill Master Org, then Thrax and Havoc get a nuke dropped on them while their fighting each other. Us and Vexacus are pretty much all that's left," Rita said.

"Husband, their being here is proof that your time machine works," Archerina said.

"Of course it works darling. The issue is how do I control them once I get them here? Clearly the threat of sending them back to the past didn't work."

"Just abandon your time manipulation scheme!" Jen said to Gasket.

"Never! I'll put it on hold while I research a more effective means of controlling my evil empire!"

"I was afraid he'd say something like that," Trip said.

Katie looked around and said, "This isn't too different from when we fought Ransik's Cyclobot army."

Jen nodded and said, "Okay, the Rangers will take on the Cogs. Can the monsters take out Gasket and Archerina?"

There were numerous affirmative grunts. And so the battle to restore the timeline began. The Time Force Rangers fired the weapons and slashed their Chronosabers against Cog after Cog while Divatox fired energy from her hands and Rita, Trakeena, and Toxica from their wands at Archerina. Scorpina and Trini slashed into her from opposing directions with their sword.

Jindrax aimed his kinves to keep Gasket's movements fixed in one location while Goldar and Jason fought on one side and of him while Rito and Diabolico fought on the other, Gasket switching his sword hand randomly. In the end Diabolico fired a blast from his staff and blew off Gasket's head. A steady beam from Rita's staff caused Archerina to explode.

* * *

In the bowels of Gasket's base, the company startled Narzag, Gasket's temporal physicist.

"Who are you?" He swiveled his chair and stood up. The figures he heard were still on the stairs. The first to emerge was Jen. She removed her helmet and revealed that she was human.

Narzag started to scream, "Intruders!" and move to push the intruder alert button. However, before he could make one step or say on syllable, Jen held out her hand in a halt signal and said, "It's okay! Gasket's dead!"

Narzag froze and then asked, "How?"

"I blew his head off," Diabolico said. Narzag could not see Diabolico from here but could recognize his voice from the historical files he had watched.

"So he wasn't transported through time?" Narzag asked

"No," Jen assured him.

"Then my daughter is safe," Narzag breathed a long sigh of relief. The nightmare was finally over.

"I'm with Time Force," Jen said. "We need to use your machine to send some of our …" Jen searched for the right word, ",,,acquaintances here back where they need to go."

Narzag nodded eager to perform his last acts involving this machine. He sat back down at the controls and asked "When and where?"

"Aquitar 1998 just after the Z-Wave hit. Find Divatox."

The screen above Narzag's control panel revealed a woman in white robes, who looked like Dimitria only without a veil.

Jen stepped out of the way as Divatox and her crew stepped forward. Divatox looked at the bracelet that Jen had given her. It would reintegrate her with her purified self. She would still be good because of the Z-Wave, but would remember her life in the alternate future and know where to be for her daughter Trakeena the Elder in one year's time, and how to be and grandmother to Trakeena the Younger.

Narzag pressed a button and the glass of the teleportation device slid out of the way. Divatox and her crew stepped on to the platform. Trakeena walked toward her grandmother but Diabolico called to her and she looked back.

"Where my granddaughter goes, I go."

Trakeena walked toward the platform with Diabolico behind her.

"You know that there will be two of you in the year 2000," Narzag said.

"But we won't be in the same place at the same time."

When Divatox, her crew, Diabolico, and Trakeena were on the platform Narzog closed the glass. Electricty crackled. Smoke filled the chamber. After a few moments, the former occupants of the chamber were on the screen in 1998. Divatox activated the bracelet on her wrist and became a stream of energy that changed color from red to white the closer it got to her purified self. When she was fully reintegrated she ran toward her granddaughter and hugged her.

Everyone watching smiled, including Rita—because she knew her own reunion was next. She also had a bracelet that would let her reintegrate with her purified self.

The glass slid out of the way again. Squatt, Baboo, and Finister hurried on to the platform. Rita asked Jen a question whose answer she wanted to be very sure of.

"When, again, can I meet Thrax?"

"On Earth, in the year 2007, but remember, you and Zedd will be good. Thrax will still be evil. I can't promise you'll have any better luck with him than Divatox does with Trakeena."

"We'll see," Rita said. She stepped on to the platform.

Narzag set the controls to the planet in the Vica galaxy just after the Z-Wave. He established a video feed of a couple dancing. He waited until the couple was out of the viewing distance of the Gold Ranger. He closed the glass. Electricity crackled. Smoke bellowed.

Rita and her henchmen appeared on the screen near the dancing couple. The couple started screaming. Now that they were purified they did not want to be attacked by minions of a still evil Rita.

"How are you here?" The woman asked.

"Time Travel. I want you to find our son, but you're going to need my memories." Rita pressed the button on her bracelet and turned into purple energy that became pink as she entered her purified self.

Zedd grabbed on to Rita and asked if she was all right.

"Zeddy," she said, "I know where and when to find Thrax!"

The remaining monsters cheered.

Jen looked at Jindrax and Toxica. "We have two more bracelets, Jindrax and Toxica need to reintegrate themselves into the Jindrax and Toxica of this time. They will become advisors to the Order of Meridian on all things Org-related." Jen then looked at them all. "We know that the first Master Org came about by a temporal paradox. When Havoc destroyed Olympius's Org Heart he tore the fabric of spacetime and material containing the radioactive DNA of both Olympius and Viktor Adler traveled back to Earth three thousand years ago."

"Master Org was always related to Bansheera! It was there for anyone to see!" Goldar said in jest.

Finally Jen looked at Goldar, Scorpina, Rito, Jason, and Trini.

"Rito, Goldar and Scorpina also become important advisors to the Order of Meridian. In fact you are specifically requested by Rita and Zedd. I'd just advise that you wait until Master Vile is dead before trying to reintegrate yourselves. And your children will become Power Rangers at SPD."

Everyone was speechless. Rito actually fainted.

Jason said, "I don't believe it."

"Believe it," Jen said. "Because of the events that happened with the timline, Trini will set up a special branch of SPD in the town that was destroyed that will eventually become Time Force."

"I'll still be alive a thousand years from now," Trini said. "So, do I know you then?"

"Not personally. But you give my academy commencement speech."

"What's next?" Scorpina asked.

"How 'bout we go home?" Goldar said.

**If you have enjoyed my story, thank you. Personally rather than reviews at this point, I would love to exchange pms about the conflicting themes of love and power in this story. **


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